Hikari Shinigami
by tsukasa030
Summary: For years Netto and Rockman have battled viruses, killer robots, and mad scientists. Now Netto faces a very different foe with a suprising connection to his past. Bleach crossover.
1. First Strike

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE or Bleach

**Hikari Shinigami**

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 1

"Rukia why are we here again?" asked a highly annoyed Ichigo Kurosaki as he and his co-worker exited the plane. Near the terminal entrance a sign said 'Welcome to Akihara!'

The raven haired Shinigami turned around a stared at the orange-haired teen and sighed. "We are here because," she looked around to be certain that nobody was listening and then continued, "The Soul Society detected the presence of a powerful Hollow in the city. It's our job to hunt it down and destroy it."

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why we are the ones doing this. Shouldn't there be someone local that can handle the problem?" While waiting for his answer Ichigo walked over to luggage claim and grabbed his bag that had a suspicious lump in it.

Rukia spotted the lump as well and waited to see what Kurosaki would do. _"That little idiot never listens."_ she thought eying the lump. She watched as Kurosaki pulled back his fist ready to punch the lump when she reached out and stopped him. She gave the other Shinigami a look that said 'let me handle this' and grabbed the bag.

Taking Ichigo's bag Rukia proceeded to dropkick the bag making sure that her foot connected right where the lump was. The black bag smashed into the wall of the terminal and a well known voice growled. "OWWW!!! That hurt!" The zipper unzipped and out came none other than Kon.

Ichigo grabbed the lion plushie around the throat and lifted it into the air lifting it to eye level. "Kon why are you here?" he groaned.

The mod soul pointed his finger accusingly at the young Shinigami and said, "Because if you have to fight a Hollow then someone has to take care of your body and I seriously doubt that you'd want Rukia 'taking care' of it." The lecherous smirk on the plushie's face told everyone of his real meaning.

The older Shinigami crushed Kon's head and said, "I think that you are confusing me with yourself perv." She looked towards the orange-haired teen and added, "He is already here, so we might as well keep him. It'd be too much of a hassle to turn around and take him back."

"Right. So how much do you know about our current mission Kon?", he asked the mod soul.

Kon sweat dropped and answered, "Just that a Hollow's involved. What else is there to possibly know?"

Rukia sighed and said, "An upper level Hollow has been appearing and disappearing within Akihara. It's devoured the souls of three Shinigami and caused considerable damage to the city itself. Our job is to stop this Hollow scum and prevent any more fatalities."

The high school student nodded and picked up his bag and stuffed Kon back in it. "Well Rukia where do we start?"

Kuchiki pulled out her cellphone and open a map showing twelve red dots and three black ones. "Ok each red dot represents an area attacked by this Hollow."

"And the black ones..." Ichigo asked.

She closed her eyes and answered, "Those are the locations where Shinigami were devoured" Opening her eyes she surveyed the map again looking for likely areas for another attack. "Hmmm. It seems that the attacks are centered around Sci-Labs. We should start our investigation there."

_"Oh great! I might actually have to learn something on this trip."_ thought an aggravated Ichigo.

* * *

"Hey dad mom wanted me to remind you not to be late tonight!" shouted an energetic brunette. 

Yuuichiro winced remembering the conversation this morning with his wife. "I know Netto and I promise that I will be there on time. I promise both you and your brother that I won't get caught up in work."

"Just be careful coming home. There have been a lot of strange explosions around here lately and I don't want anything to happen to you." Netto said while walking back to the door.

As the door opened Yuuichiro looked up from his work and turned to his son. "That sounds more like my line than yours Netto. You really are growing up into a fine young man."

Netto blushed slightly hearing his father give him such praise. "Uh...thanks papa." With that said Netto dashed out the door and started heading for the security checkpoint just before the exit. It was never a problem for him to get through since all of the staff knew the boy and his navi well.

"You must be so proud of him." said Meijin as he entered the run after almost being rundown by the NetSavior.

Dr. Hikari smiled with eyes full of pride. "He's growing up so fast these days that it's hard to keep up with him. Thanks to Rockman Netto is finally becoming a mature young man. He's studying like he should, helping his mother with chores, and even dating Meiru...though he won't admit it to me or his mother."

Meijin smirked and pointed an accusing finger at his colleague, "You've been using Saito to spy on him."

"Well I had to find out some way what is going on in his life. And since Netto shares everything with his big brother I knew that Saito would know." Dr. Hikari returned to his work trying to finish it as quickly as possible so that he wouldn't be late for his boys birthday party.

* * *

Slowly Netto made his way to the exit and he saw several large trucks moving Dimensional Area generators and other heavy equipment around. "I guess things are finally getting back to normal around here. I wonder what our next adventure will hold for us." 

"Don't jinx it little bro. I for one enjoy the peace and quiet." said Rock.

The young NetSavior nodded but added, "And that is usually when everything goes wrong. It's been too quiet and peaceful lately with the exception of those strange explosions."

The blue navi agreed with him there. "Yeah and you've almost been hurt many times during those explosions. What's really weird though is that the officials couldn't find any kind of explosive residue, nothing at all that could explain what caused them."

When Netto reached the curb he saw a shadow looming over him. The thing is that this shadow didn't resemble anything human. "What the hell?!" Before he could turn around something hit him in the back shoving him in front of an incoming truck.

The trucker saw Netto in the middle of his lane and immediately tried to hit the brakes, but found that the couldn't. It was like something was holding the brake pedal up and forcing the gas all the way down.

_"Ah crap! I'm gonna die!"_ Before the truck could hit him the brunette's brain kicked in and he dropped to the ground and rolled himself between the tires. As soon as the truck had passed over Netto pulled himself up. Inside of the truck he saw the shadow of something disappear.

"Son are you all right?" asked the trucker once he'd managed to stop the truck. He immediately looked the boy over to make sure that he wasn't injured.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The NetSavior brushed himself off and felt a sharp pain in his back. _"I suppose that I hurt myself when I ducked. I'll have it looked at later if it starts to become a problem."_

The driver seemed satisfied that the teen was ok, but he wanted to play it safe. "You really should be checked out. I can take you or call someone if necessary."

The brunette smiled and said, "No thanks. Other than a sore back and wounded pride I'm just fine."

­_­-We'll see about that!-_

Netto saw the shadow again out of the corner of his eye just before the cable snapped that was holding a large Dimensional Area generator. The generator immediately started to fall towards the boy and would have hit him if the driver hadn't shove him out of the way. "Mister? Yo-you, you save me. Why? Why did you do that?"

Massive amounts of blood could already be seen pouring out of the innocent man and his spine was clearly crushed. It was certain that this man was going to die here after having saved Netto's life and if by some miracle the driver survived he would face the last days of his life paralyzed.

Coughing up large amounts of blood he tried to answer the question. "He.heh...I..couldn't...leee-tt..a...kid...ge...hu..t" His eyes rolled back as his soul was released for it's prison of flesh.

Nearby workers saw what had happened and immediately rushed over to Netto and the trucker driver. Before being moved he read the name of the driver that had saved his life and engraved it into his heart. _"Jiraiya. Thank you, Jiraiya."_ The next thing that he knew he felt people around him trying to make sure that he was ok and asking what had happened. "I don't know what happened. I felt something shove me out into the road and then I saw something inside of the truck with Mr. Jiraiya. He got out to make sure that I was ok and that's when I saw the shadow again. It was next to the dimensional area generator...I think that 'it' caused the generator to fall, but I didn't get a good look. When the generator fell this man pushed me out of the way and saved my life."

After having summarized what had happened and insisting to everyone that he was fine Netto looked back at the truck to see a boy with orange hair looking over the cables that had once strapped down the generator. He wasn't wearing the usual Sci-Lab outfit, but he was wearing a visitors pass around his neck. When the boy looked at Netto he said, "This cable looks like it was ripped to shreds by something. Has this kind of thing been happening to you a lot lately or something?"

Before he could answer a raven haired girl bent down next to him and said, "Can I take a look at your back?" After giving her a funny look she quickly added, "There seems to be bruising on your back and I'd like to take a look at it. My name is Rukia by the way."

Nodding he said, "My name is Netto Hikari." He felt that he could trust her so he removed his vest and lifted his shirt over his head. Immediately he felt her cold fingers examining his back and he heard her along with many others gasp. "What? What is it?"

Refusing to look the boy in the eye Rukia answered, "This bruise mark on your back is huge and it's shaped funny. If I didn't know any better I'd say that it was a giant hand print."

Ichigo immediately caught the other Shinigami's subtle hint. _"There is no doubt that the Hollow was after this boy. Looks like we'll be keeping an eye on him for the time bein--Wait a second! Did he say that he saw something?!"_ Deciding to get answers he jumped down and walked over to his partner and Netto. "Did you say that you saw something in the truck and near the generator?"

Rukia's eyes widened and she stared at the boy for a few moments before locking eyes with Ichigo. Before they could do or say anything more Dr. Hikari and Meijin came running out of the largest building. Rukia and Ichigo were forced to back away since their ID's were fakes and a skilled eye like Yuuichiro's could have spotted the smallest defect. She watched as Netto's father examined him as she had done. Rukia walked over to Ichigo and whispered, "We are going to have to watch him closely and wait for the Hollow to come back."

Ichigo nodded. "My question is why does this Hollow seem to have this grudge against Netto." When he saw the demanding look Rukia was giving him he added, "All of the recent Hollow attacks in Akihara have one thing in common...Netto Hikari. He was at every location at the time of the 'explosions' and almost killed each time. I'm surprised that the authorities haven't figured out that someone is trying to kill the kid yet."

* * *

Hovering between the land of the living and the realm of the dead a snake like creature with a white mask sensed that his prey was still alive. "So be it Netto. The gloves have come off and this time I will not leave until you are dead. I don't care if I have to destroy every Shinigami on the planet so long as I take you with me." 

"Now, now with that kind of an attitude you will be killed." said a spider-shaped Hollow.

"BE SILENT REGAL! I DON'T NEED YOU TELLING ME HOW TO KILL A SNOTNOSED LITTLE INGRATE!" The snake Hollow's eyes glowed crimson red for several seconds. "I will kill him regardless of the costs. The traitor will die by my own hands and I know just how to do it. Hehehe, a fitting end for one such as him indeed."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Click that 'Review' button and tell me whatcha think. More reviews Faster updates 


	2. Regal's Assault

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE or Bleach

**Hikari Shinigami**

**Reviews: **For the longest time I've sent PM's in response to reviews. I'm going to try to stop being so lazy and post them here instead. Hope that you enjoy.

Saber-chan: The reason why the Hollow calls Netto a traitor will be revealed in later chapters.

LanHikari2000x: Wait and you'll see who the Hollow is. I'm trying my best to surprise everyone here.

Yami Ami: The snake like Hollow is the one calling all of the shots and that's all that I'm gonna say. What he wants is to devour Netto's soul. Regal is working for that Hollow because that Hollow is far more powerful than he is.

miforever29: Sorry about Ichigo's hair color. It looks blonde to me.

Andrain John: The reason why I call the snake Hollow an upper level Hollow is just because he's much stronger than your average Hollow without becoming a Menos.

Additional thanks to:

Rose Kitsune.EXE

Firehedgehog

Daniel14541

**NOW ON WITH THE CHAPTER!**

Chapter 2

"Argh! It's been two days and that stinking Hollow hasn't come back yet. You'd think that he'd like a little snack by now!" Ichigo huffed and settled down in his seat next to Rukia.

The raven haired Shinigami was reading another one of her mangas learning how people behaved in this day and age. What bothered Ichigo was how Rukia's performance went completely unnoticed by their human friends. _"I'll never understand how they can't tell that she's acting. Then again I don't think that they'd believe the truth either. I mean who's going to believe that this normal, though sometimes clueless girl, is actually a Shinigami?"_

"Don't be so impatient Ichigo. Most likely the Hollow has realized that we are here and it's planning its next move carefully." Looking up from her manga she glanced around suspiciously at the hospital lobby.

Her orange-haired partner noticed this and started looking too. He leaned in and whispered, "Hollow?"

Rukia's eyes narrowed and she hissed, "Worse...Where's Kon?" She knew that something was up when the mod soul hadn't been picking fights with Ichigo or trying to look up her skirt. "We better find the little idiot before someone sees him."

"I'll do it." said the younger Shinigami. "I owe him a beating after that laxative he put in my coffee yesterday." With that said he walked off intending to torture the lion plushie when he found the thing.

As Ichigo walked off Rukia started laughing as she remembered yesterday's events. When she finally stopped, which was mostly due to the confused nurses staring at her, she got up and decided to check on Netto. She curious as to why his father had kept him in the hospital for two days when he wasn't really hurt. _"Other than the Hollow hand-claw print on his back that is."_

* * *

"Netto we're here to see how you're doing." said Meiru as she and Dekao entered the brunette's room. "Yaito wanted to come, but she said something about someone on her staff not ordering strawberry milk and then something about torture." 

If it had been anyone else Netto would've been bugeyed right then, but this was one of his long time friends. "Some how I'm not surprised and thanks for coming to check up on me you guys." The brunette's eyes suddenly grew large and watery before he said, "Could you guys please help me get out of here?"

"You mean sneak out." corrected Meiru. She knew that her childhood friend was desparate to get out of a boring hospital. Meiru knew well of Netto's adventerous spirit and how much he hated the lack of excitement. Enzan had once told her that Netto was the only one that he'd ever known that thought of fighting as fun.

Rockman appeared on the screen of the PET and checked on NetOp. "Just making sure..."

The statement confused Netto who then asked, "Making sure what?"

Rockman's look said 'I know you and you're not going to pull anything while I'm around'. For the sake of the other two he verbalized 'what'. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. I know that you've already tried to get the nurses to sneak you out of the hospital as well as Enzan and Laika." He leaned in and added, "And I'm not going to let you guilt these two into helping you escape. Besides you are going to be released later today when your dad comes to get you."

****

"Don't you mean our dad."

'Not when other people are around.'

"But you know Dekao and Meiru can be trusted."

'I meant the hospital staff. It'd be too easy for them to walk in and hear something that they are not supposed to.'

Netto could sense that Rock was hiding something, but his reasons were all good points. "Well as you can see I'm not trying to escape, so you can go now and surf the net."

"Un-uh. I'm supposed to be here during all visits to make sure you don't make another escape attempt. I should also add that Dr. Hikari has asked Enzan and Blues to sit outside this room just in case." Rock couldn't help but smirked when Netto's face paled.

Meiru nodded and added, "That explains why Enzan searched the food cart that just left as we came in. I take it that you've tried that one before." When the NetSavior held his head down and refused to look her in the eye she knew that she had her answer. She noticed something orange next to some flowers and picked it up. "Netto who sent you flowers and the cute little lion?"

The boy's head perked up and he answered, "The card said that they were from Mariko-sensei. I'm actually surprised that she sent me a dorky looking bear."

"It's a lion Netto...and I think that it's cute." said Meiru as she snuggled the plushie to her chest.

"Hehehe, jackpot."

"Did you say something Netto?" asked the red head.

Dekao and Netto looked at her with confusion. The NetSavior answered, "No, not really."

Meiru shrugged and sat the lion back on the small table where she had found it. Her face lost it's joy and she became very serious. "Netto why did your father make you stay in the hospital this long? I know that you were not hurt that bad, if at all, when the generator killed that man. So tell me why and don't lie to me."

Dekao's eyes widened and he grabbed Netto around the collar of his shirt. "What's she talking about runt? Out with it or else I'll pound ya."

Being the youngest Hikari Netto was always the most likely to provoke a fight. "Like you could ever take me. I'll tear you apart just like Rockman does to Gutsman."

"Rock just gets lucky, that's all that there is to it." said larger boy as he tried to defend his NetNavi's pride. "I'll prove it right here and now!"

-SMACK! CRACK!-

Both boys pulled themselves off of the ground and looked up at their assailant. Meiru had cracked the food tray over the brunette's head while Dekao was smacked with the remains of the tray. She turned her full attention back to the trembling brunette and said, "I know how you act when you're trying to evade a question and picking fights with him is one of them."

Rock's mouth was hanging open as he processed what had just happened. He knew that his brother wasn't trembling because he was hurt, but because he was afraid of what his unofficial girlfriend would do to him if he didn't come clean. _"I wonder if Netto will tell them?"_

The young Hikari finally gave in knowing that he couldn't keep this a secret. With a sigh he turned around and lifted his shirt exposing the Hollow claw print on his back. "This was left on my back the same day that Jiraiya was killed. He was the truck driver that pushed me out of the way saving my life at the cost of his own." He could feel his eyes tearing up and he fought back the tears. "The doctors don't know what this is, but they all agree that it looks like a claw mark or something. The thing is...no one saw any wild animals on the grounds let alone one that could make a mark like this."

Sakurai placed her hand on Netto's arm and led him back to the bed. "I'm sorry Netto. I didn't know." She had to choke back her own tears after realizing just how big of an effect the stranger's death had on Netto. _"He has always had a huge heart, so I shouldn't be so surprised. I've always heard about how traumatic this kind of this can be for a person, but I never thought that Netto would be the victim."_

"It's ok Meiru. It's not your fault that this happened. I just feel so guilty about me living with only a few minor injuries while an innocent man is dead." He felt the guilt turn into anger just before he slammed his fist onto the table making it shake. "I'm supposed to be a NetSavior! What good am I if I can't even protect one man?"

Netto's two friends and his navi could see that he was trying not to cry. The only one that truely understood what he was going through was Rock and the poor navi felt like he was getting hit by a train, herd of elephants, Gravityman, and Duo all at the same time. It reminded the navi of just how double-sided their psychic link could be. "Netto you did the best that you could. Everyone loses someone at some point. Don't beat yourself up over this. I don't think that Jiraiya would've wanted that."

"He's right Netto. I don't know the guy personally, but I do know that Jiraiya put your life ahead of his own and you shouldn't waste the gift that he gave you." said Dekao as he put his hand on Netto's shoulder. The gesture had the desired effect and the brunette settled down and started thinking about what his friends were trying to tell him. "Think about it...you would've done the same for a complete strange. A kindred spirit."

Netto nodded knowing that it was his nature to do anything in his power to help other people. "You're right once Dek. Thanks guys."

"No problem." said Meiru.

"Didn't have much choice. I'd end up losing my rival otherwise." said Dekao. His response got a laugh out of Netto and Rockman.

-CRASH!!!-

"What was that?" Netto started walking towards the window followed by his two friends. He opened it and started looking around. "I don't see anything." he said before looking down. "Oh CRAP! WHAT IS THAT THING?!" he shouted staring down at the ground.

Meiru managed to fit her head in the same window the NetSavior was using while Dekao had to use another one. Both of Netto's friends looked to where he was staring and could only see a destroy wall and several crushed trash cans. "I don't see anything Netto."

"How can you miss that huge spider-thing?! It's the size of a truck and it's...oh crap! It's climbing the walls." Netto said as he grabbed Meiru and pulled her away from the window.

Meiru grabbed his hand and tried to stop him from dragging her out of the room. "Netto stop it. You're scaring me."

He turned around and said, "Scaring you? What about that thing out there?"

"Maybe your meds are a bit too strong?" she guessed.

"The doctor didn't give me anything meds of any kind." was Netto's curt reply. "And I'm not suffering from any kind of trauma. Now let's get out of here."

Netto saw the creature's leg waving in the window as it pulled itself up so that it could look into his window. "Dek get away from there now!"

The larger boy, while he didn't see anything except the shattering of concrete and glass, decided to listen to his friend and quickly ran over to where Netto and Meiru were standing at the door. The spider shattered the window and started trying to force it's entire body through the crumbling wall.

He looked his friends in the eyes and could see that they truely didn't see the danger right in front of them. _"If they can't see it then I've got to lead it away from them."_ He grabbed a chair and hit the giant spider right in it's face. "Come and get me you oversized bug."

Enzan tried to enter the room only to be hit by flying chunks of concrete. It broke his nose and left Netto with just enough of an opening to get by. The brunette shoved Enzan aside in order to protect his life and tore out down the hallway.

"You foolish boy. I'll devor you, soul and all." growled the creature as it completely ignored Netto's friends and began to give chase.

* * *

Netto chanced a glance behind him and as expected the monster was right behind him. Knowing that there were innocent people all over the hospital Netto headed for a laundry shute and jumped down it making sure that the creature saw him first. _"Please let there be a full cart at the bottom of this thing. Please let there be a full cart at the bottom of this thing. Please let there be a full cart at the bottom of this thing."_

As Netto reached the third floor he heard the spider tearing into the wall in an attempt to follow. _"That's right ya big ugly freak. Keep coming."_

When he finally hit the cart in the basement he found out that it was only half full. The impact broke the cart's wheel and left the NetSavior sore all over. He quickly pulled himself out of the shattered cart as fast as his injured body would allow. "I really need to start thinking these things through. One of these days it's going to get me killed."

"How true." said a familiar voice.

Netto looked to the source a saw a raven-haired girl in a school uniform. She seemed familiar to him and he started trying to place where he'd seen her before. "Let's see...That's right. I saw you when Jiraiya was killed. Who are you and why are you here?"

"Hm...my name is Rukia Kuchiki and from the sound of things we don't have time for my story. NOW LET'S RUN BEFORE THAT HOLLOW GETS HERE!" The Shinigami grabbed the brunette's arm and started running for the door. Grabing the handle she threw the door open just as the giant Hollow fell through the ceiling. _"This Hollow isn't the same as the one that attacked before. In fact...it's much weaker. But if this one is here, then where is the other one?"_

Putting Netto's safety above her own she shoved him out of the basement and slammed the door shut locking it in one swift move. "Ok Hollow now you have to contend with me." Rukia ignored Netto's constant banging on the door and pleas for her to escape. She discarded her _gigai_ and reverted to her true self as a Shinigami. Pulling her Zanpakuto from it's sheath she dashed at the spider aiming for it's legs.

Before reaching the Hollow it spat a ball of thread out of it's mouth that exploded when it hit her sword and encased most of her Zanpakuto along with her hands. "Nice try little brat, but I was warned about two meddling Shinigami."

It surprised that the Hollow had already figured out that two more Soul Reapers had been sent to investigate. "So your working for someone? Big surprise there." she said sarcastically. "Even with my hands wrapped up I'll still stop you from getting to that boy. But I do have a question for you. Why are you all so hell bent on killing this kid?"

The Hollow started laughing at the girl. "If you must know, then I'll tell you. Consider this your final request." It's eyes started to glow red before it began, "A few years back I was the most brilliant scientist on Earth. With Nebula I was just steps away from controlling the entire planet...until that boy interfered. Netto Hikari has made many enemies both living and dead. There are many Hollows that would love nothing more than to devour his soul slowly, so that he feels every agonizing second of pain and misery. Alas we've been unable to do so because of all of you cursed Shinigami...until now."

"Hm...so you're just an underling in this? So who's the head guy?" asked Rukia as she continued to try to wiggle her hands free.

Once more the laughed and said, "That's the ironic thing about all of this. Nobody would believe who it is that organized all of us for Netto's death. And the beauty of it is Netto brought this all upon himself by betraying someone very important to him."

Rukia didn't believe that Netto could have betrayed anyone. After the attack a few days ago she'd had his file pulled and familiarized herself with it. If anything she believed that the Hollow was insane. While the Hollow was busy gloating she used the wall behind her to throw herself at it.

Another ball of sticky webbing encased her body as she was now pinned to the wall by it. "I am Dr. Regal child and I am not one to trifled with. I expected better of a Soul Reaper than simply waving a sword around. No matter...it's time to dine."

Regal started to lower his head towards the bound Shinigami and a smaller head came out of his mouth. From the smaller head a long, serpent-like tongue sprang from his mouth and roamed over her exposed face leaving behind slim and a feeling of being massively violated. (With Regal doing something like that, who wouldn't feel violated?)

"Eewwww. When I get loose from here I'm going to slice that tongue of yours off. I would consider it a public service." However Rukia knew that she couldn't break free from the sticky substance with the little time that she probably had left.

Regal pulled back opening his large mouth as his glowing red eyes stayed locked on Rukia's. "Such a waste of a pretty face." He then lunged at her, but before he could bite into her flesh the door was thrown with such force that the whole door came flying at Regal's head.

"Sorry that I'm late. I had to find Kon and get him to cough up that stupid pill." Ichigo quickly surveyed the scene and jumped into action slicing right into the Hollow's unguarded legs.

Outside of the door Kon in Ichigo's body was watching Netto as Ichigo had ordered. _"This kid can actually see Ichigo and Rukia. So he too has a large amount of untapped spiritual power. That could be why the Hollows are after him, but they've never been this obsessed with eating one person before except Shinigami."_ As the fighting downstairs continued Kon watched Netto's face and eyes as the brunette followed all of the orange haired Shinigami's moves. _"Is it possible that this boy is destined to be a Shinigami like Ichigo and Rukia?"_

Down below in the hospital basement Kurosaki roundhoused the Hollow right in the face before bringing his Zanpakuto down slicing more of Regal's legs off. "Time to finish this!" he shouted as he moved in for the kill.

"I couldn't agree more." called a new voice.

Rukia and Ichigo looked up the stairs just in time to see Kon thrown towards them. "Kon are you ok?" asked Rukia from her place on the wall.

"You better not have damaged my body!" shouted Ichigo giving Regal a chance to escape back to the world where Hollows live. After seeing the Hollow escape he heard a splat and gurgling sounds. He looked for the source and found it where Kon had just been. "No..."

Rukia's mouth fell open at the horrific sight before her. She saw a serpent-shaped Hollow holding a clawed hand straight through Netto's chest. "Ha ha ha ha. I only wished that I could prolong your pain...give eternal suffering." said the creature as it yanked it's claws back out taking Netto's internal organs with it. The two Shinigamis and Kaizō Konpaku (Modified Soul) watched as Netto's soul began to separate from his body.

What happened next both confused and enraged the serpent Hollow. "What the hell? After everything that he's done fate decides for him to be a...a...Grrrrr! I'll send you to hell!" The Hollow tried to shred Netto's soul as it was still separating from his body, but Ichigo intercepted and left a nice scar on the creature's mask. Kon had managed to free Rukia and she too now stood ready to fight. "This isn't over fools! Not by a long shot!" it shouted before disappearing.

"He's going to have it rough for a while." began Rukia as she bent down and picked up Netto's newly freed soul. Stroking the spikey brown hair of the newly born Shinigami she continued, "It's always so sad to see the young die like this. It's pointless and...and" Her voice was cracking up and she knew that her friends could tell that she was trying not to cry. Taking a few short breaths to regain her calm she finished, "It's so unfair for them and even worse when they're so innocent."

Ichigo and Kon could see the raven haired Soul Reaper losing a battle with her motherly instincts even though she herself had never had a child. Kurosaki suggested, "We should train him."

She shook her head and explained, "The Soul Society will already know that he's become a Shinigami. They will send someone to recruit him immediately and if they find out about you..."

"Instant death sentence." finished Kon. He knew that Rukia had given Ichigo her powers when he was just a human so that he could protect his family. However doing so was a capital crime for Shinigami and would result in her execution. Kon knew of the punishment and hated the Soul Society even more because of it. _"Being fed to a Hollow...Uhhh...shouldn't even be considered as a punishment."_

"I'll take him." said Rukia as she lifted the boy up over her shoulder.

Ichigo was finally able to get a good look at the boy and realized that the kid had a Zanpakuto strapped over his back just like him. _"I wonder how well this kid can handle his sword?"_ he thought as they quickly vacated the area before they were seen or rather before Kon was seen near Netto's corpse.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Click that 'Review' button and tell me whatcha think. More reviews, Faster updates. 


	3. Q & A time

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE or Bleach

**Hikari Shinigami**

**Reviews:**

**miforever29 **- Yes Rockman is still going to be involved just not much until later chapters. And thanks for your support.

**Dragon and Sword Master - **This takes place before the Soul Society finds out about Rukia, but I'm going to break off from there into my own universe. I'll try to include things from the Bleach anime.

**Yami Ami - **For now Netto just looks like himself, but with Shinigami apparel. I'll change his appearance and attitude a little in future chapters. And I'd love to see a picture of him as a Shinigami. I'll also write out Rukia mothering Netto as the progresses.

**Slayer.EXE - **I believe that this chapter will give you the answer to your question about Netto's friends and their reactions. There will be more in the next chapter.

**Kawazoe Kazuma - **Thanks. I've recently taken an interest in Bleach since the dubbed version first started airing which is why I may be missing pieces of information here and there. For that I am sorry.

**Angels Draco -** I'm glad that I managed to surprise you and hopefully many others. I actually rewrote chapter 2 three times to get it just the way that I wanted it.

**Saber-chan **- Yep, Netto died in a sense. Not to worry though. He'll still be getting into trouble.

**He who needs no ****introduction... - **Thanks. I try to write to the best of my ability and keep everyone in suspense. My beta is always a big help there.

**Hotshot45 **- It is sad to see the hero die, but it does happen and is necessary for the plot line.

**Hacka.EXE - **Thanks.

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 3

Enzan and the hospital security rounded the corner and found a huge hole in the wall. "This, no doubt, is where Netto went down. Let's get down there before he gets himself killed!" He knew from the shaking that the four guards were scared and to be honest so was he. He'd seen the Hikari boy running like some of demon was after him and the hospital walls practically exploding couldn't be just a coincidence.

They took the stairs down to the basement because it was faster than using the elevator and it went all the way down to the basement. While the dual-haired teen rushed down he couldn't help but let his mind wonder back to the destruction that he'd seen, but then his mind came to a more disturbing thought. _"Please let us get there before Meiru and Dekao. I'm sure that they've already ignored my warning to stay there and taken the elevator. Urgh! I only wish that I had an extra man that I could've place to watch them."_

When they reached the door to the basement they immediately found a human heart, lungs, and liver thrown against the stairway. Their immediate reaction was the gag reflex at the scene as they looked further in. Face down on the ground, surrounded by a pool of his own blood was Netto Hikari. It was easily to see more of the brunette's insides scattered about the hallway and claw marks around the wounds. The scene was too gory for even Enzan to handle as he turned his head to a corner and began to vomit.

Ijuin wasn't alone as one of the security guards followed shortly after. The other three were sure that this would certainly be a memorable first-day for the guard huddled over one of the large ash trays. _"I don't think that we'll be keeping that guy."_ the shift leader thought grimly before turning his attention back to the massacre.

_-BING!-_

Enzan looked up as the elevator door opened and Netto's friends exited. He knew that they could see the body from where the elevator, but he couldn't do anything as he began to puke again from the picture that would follow him to his grave. The picture of Netto's disemboweled body lying down and his remaining organs exposed to the world.

"NETTO! OH GOD WHAT HAPPENED!" shouted a hysteric Meiru as she tried to run over to the body. One guard firmly held on to her and tried to make her look away from the gruesome sight.

The other two guards slowly descended into the basement noting the claw marks around the door frame and destroyed equipment in the basement itself. When Enzan had regained enough control of himself he saw red and tore off into the basement after the monster that had killed Netto.

Meiru continued to try to get around her captor, but she couldn't. She broke down into tears while Dekao had simply fainted from the sight of so much blood and gore. He'd always loved horror movies, but the real thing is so different from movies. The sight, the feeling, and most of all...the smell of blood.

The security chief notified all hospital personnel to be on the lookout for any kind of wild animals or strange occurrences. Never in his life had he witnessed such brutality in a killing and he hoped to never see it again. Half an hour later the search came up empty and it was concluded that the 'wild animal' had killed Netto and escaped, but for Enzan that made no sense.

The door had clearly been blown inward whereas if the creature had escaped then it should have been blown outward. Then there was the matter of Dekao stating Netto claimed to see a huge creature attacking the hospital when he didn't see anything other than exploding walls and windows. There were a lot of questions and no answers for what was going to becoming a huge story. Netto was a very public figure as a NetSavior and many important people were going to want real answers. There was also the issue of the Press having a field day when word got out about the death of an Hikari. They were after all the pinnacle of the scientific community and the death of one, even so young, wouldn't go unnoticed.

* * *

Hours later the former NetSavior began to stir. After all of the excitement Rukia and Ichigo had decided that it was best that they took him to their hotel room. They returned to Shinigami form to explain things to the newly born Shinigami. The idea behind it was that normal humans couldn't see or hear them, so they could explain things uninterrupted. 

"You know that he's going to freak out, right?" said Kon as he lounged about in Ichigo's body. Some of the many things that he enjoyed was using his friend's body to eat and pickup women if he got the chance. Unfortunately for him the other two knew him far too well for Kon to get away with that...just yet.

Ichigo picked up Netto's Zanpakuto and examined the blade. It was roughly the size of Netto's body which told him that the kid had a large reservoir of spiritual power. _"He's just like me only I didn't become a Shinigami through death."_ Holding the sword where Rukia could see it he said, "Hey I wonder what kind of power this thing has. What do you think Rukia?"

"We won't know until he's been properly trained. Until then your guess is as good as mine." she said as she sat down on the best next to Netto.

"Umm." Chocolate brown eyes slowly opened and then quickly slammed shut again. "Stupid light..." he muttered, but loud enough for Rukia to hear him and giggle. Given that his head was lying in Rukia's lap he felt the giggle as well as heard it. Slowly reopening his eyes he looked in the only direction that he really could look...up. Netto saw Rukia holding his head smiling and began to drift off again until his brain kicked in.

Ichigo and Kon were forced to move back as Netto leapt from the raven haired Shinigami's lap. "Who are you? Where am I?" he demanded rather than asked.

Kurosaki, being the blunt Soul Reaper that he is tried to grab the boy and force him to settle down. Big mistake for Ichigo as Netto instinctively grabbed his Zanpakuto and held it in front of himself. "Woah! Woah! Take it easy. We're not here to hurt you." he said while holding his hands up.

Rukia slowly stood as though this were a common thing for her and her two friends were sure that it probably is. "My name is Rukia Kuchiki and you are among friends Netto Hikari." Walking towards her friend she pointed at them and said, "The guy in black is named Ichigo Kurosaki and the one in white is name Kon."

Netto still looked suspiciously at them and then focused on the large sword in his hands. For a blade it's size it should be incredibly heavy and yet he was wielding it as thought it were as light as air. His attention left the blade and turned to a throbbing pain in his head and chest. Netto started clutching his hand over his heart as the pain in his chest continued to increase forcing him to drop his Zanpakuto. "Argh! It hurts! What's wrong with me?"

Rukia recognized his condition and rushed forward easily avoid any defense that the boy could muster. She pulled him back onto the bed and sat him down before turning to Ichigo and Kon. "Help me hold him down you two." she commanded and they did just that. In their vice-like grip Netto continued to squirm and fight because of the pain. "Hikari I need you to stay with me. I'm going to try to heal you, so try to relax as best you can."

Ichigo watched as Rukia demonstrated her prowess at healing as light came from her hand over the brunette's chest. "What's wrong with him? What's hurting him?" Kurosaki asked.

The elder Shinigami frowned and said, "This is the pain that he was feeling at the time of his death. It'll take a moment to pass." As she'd predicted five minutes later Netto stopped struggling and his pain diminished. After instruction Kon and Ichigo to release the boy she gently set him up. With a pained look in her eyes she began to explain what had happened to Netto. "By now you've realized that I'm not normal and neither are my friends or you."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Sighing Rukia decided to cut straight to the chase. "Netto I've never been good with delivering bad news, but I feel that it's better that you hear it from me rather than one of those two." she said pointing at Kon and Ichigo. Ignoring their indignant protests she got to the point. "Netto you died just a few hours ago."

Netto started laughing. "Yeah right. If I was dead then we wouldn't be having this conversation now would we. Did Enzan put you up to this?" He started tapping on his chin and muttered, "He must still be ticked about being stuck watching over me."

"And tell me genius how could he be stuck watching you if you are not even at the hospital?" said Ichigo. The Shinigami walked forward and sat next to Netto making sure that he couldn't get to his Zanpakuto again. "You're, for lack of a better term, a spirit now." When he noticed Rukia about to about to say something he stopped her saying, "One traumatic event at a time, huh."

"One traumatic event at a time? What are you talking about?" he asked. Netto was curious as to what kind of sick mind game they were trying to play on him. He knew that he was alive otherwise he wouldn't be standing, right? "I'm telling you that I'm alive and I'm beginning to think that you three are nuts."

"I can prove it to you Netto Hikari." said Rukia gaining the brunette's full attention. "If you were alive then you would have a pulse. Go ahead and feel for a pulse. You won't find one for yourself or me."

"What about the orange-haired dude?" asked the brunette pointing to Ichigo.

"Well Ichigo's an interesting case himself. You see unlike with you and I Ichigo's body is still alive." She pointed to Kon and said, "Kon here is what we call a Kaizō Konpaku or a modified soul. His job is to control Ichigo's body while he's not in it."

"I still don't believe you. It looks more like they are twins if anything and believe me I would know about twins." said Netto as he defiantly crossed his arms and waited to hear what else they might say. To his surprise the 'twins' immediately started glared at each other and muttered a few crude remarks about each other. "Yep, Saito and I used to fight like that all of the time." he said not mentioning that his brother was technically alive as a navi.

Rukia decided that she'd had enough of this kid's denial. "Netto I know that you remember a creature with a mask shoving it's claws through your body and removing your internal organs. Don't kid yourself, it was no nightmare. That creature killed you Netto turning you into a...a Shinigami."

_"Smooth move Rukia. Now the kid's going to go further into denial and when we do prove it to him he's going to go postal."_ thought Kurosaki. "Might as well get this over with." he said to himself then to Netto he said, "Feel for your pulse. Do it now."

Netto begrudgingly did so checking his throat and found that he indeed lacked a pulse. Frantically he started searching for a pulse on his wrists and his chest only to once again find no pulse. "But...there's no way...I just can't find it that's all." he said even though his mind was screaming at him that he was truly deceased. _"But then Saito would've died too. I've killed my brother because I was careless."_

Ichigo heard the brunette's sniffles and knew that he was trying to hold back tears. He started patting the kid on the back in an attempt to soothe the kid as much as he could. "I'm not going to tell you that everything is going to be ok because it's not. Your life or afterlife is going to be difficult and dangerous from now on."

The former NetSavior looked up with watery eyes and growled, "I'm concerned about my brother you idiot."

"That's right. Your profile said that you _had_ a twin brother name Saito Hikari, but why are you thinking about that now." The orange-haired Shinigami was confused as to why the boy spoke of his brother in present tense rather than past. _"I know that the profile said that the boy was dead...and I don't recall there being any mention of him becoming a Shinigami."_

With a tear slowly making it's way down the brunette's cheek he said, "Because my brother was brought back to life and reconnected to me. It's a kind of psychic link that we've always shared...when one hurts the other hurts."

"And when one dies then...the other dies." finished Rukia. "That explains why Saito's soul was never recovered. We thought at first that he might have turned into a Hollow, but we never really knew. Where was your brother and I'll see if I can find him?"

"He was at the hospital inside of my PET. You see papa resurrected my brother as a navi." said Netto as he calmed down at the notion of being able to interact with his big brother again as siblings rather than NetOp and NetNavi. "He's my navi Rockman." He then remembered something that Rukia just said and asked, "What's a Hollow?"

Ichigo took over and explained, "Hollows are the souls of the deceased that have been corrupted either by their attachments to the human world or turned by another Hollow. They are monsters that were once human and now feed off of the souls of the dead as well as the living. The spider Hollow that was chasing you said that he was a man named Dr. Regal, but the one that killed you we know nothing about."

"REGAL!? You mean to tell me that that bastard is still causing trouble even after he was killed!" Netto's mind began to fill with images of all of the pain that the mad scientist had put him and his friends through. He remembered Dark Blues and Dark Rockman, the attack using Laserman, and kidnapping Meiru when Regal went after Duo's power.

"Well that's what he said. I couldn't tell because I've never met Dr. Regal before and I also didn't get a chance to see behind his mask." said Ichigo as he picked up Netto's Zanpakuto and handed it to him. "Regardless of that Netto you are now a Shinigami and have a calling to help the souls of the dead crossover. It's also our responsibility to protect innocent people from Hollows like the ones that killed you."

Netto accepted his blade and scanned it again. He felt a strong connection with the blade as though it were alive and even a part of him. _'Rekka-ryu'_ _"Did it just speak to me just now?"_

Rukia 'humphed and said, "You seem to have changed Ichigo. Before you said that you chose to be different and now your telling him about the same thing that I told you."

Kurosaki glared and snarled, "I am different. You choose to do this line of work because of what your Soul Society tells you, but I...I choose to do this because I hate to see innocent people suffer."

Netto scooted next to Kon and whispered, "Do they do this often? Fight like brother and sister I mean."

Kon just nodded and whispered back, "Just give them a few minutes and we can make a break for it. I saw some beautiful women down in the lobby and the best part was NO ENGAGEMENT OR WEDDING RINGS IN SIGHT!" He quickly slapped his hands over his mouth knowing that he'd gotten too loud and glancing at the two arguing Shinigami proved him right. They were now both glaring at Kon with a particularly sadistic gleam in their eyes.

"Kon you are so lucky that you are in my body right now." said Ichigo letting Kon's imagination fill in the rest. He knew that the mod soul wouldn't try to slip away for a little while longer after being heard, but that didn't mean that Kurosaki was going to take his eyes off of him.

Rukia stood up and started walking towards her Gigai. "We really should get going before anything else-"

The door to the room flew open and the intruders made Kon and Rukia very afraid while Ichigo ready to fight. Netto watched the scene not really sure what was going on, but believing that he was safer with his new friends than these new guys.

"Rukia do you know these clowns?" asked Ichigo as he lifted his Zanpakuto. He was surprised when he saw the Hikari kid do the same thing. _"Good. He trusts us now. That'll make things a lot easier...I hope."_

"Division Six." she stuttered in a voice almost too low for Ichigo to hear. She knew very well who these two were and Rukia knew full well that they had no chance against them.

The orange-haired Shinigami understood that these guys were the group of Shinigami that were sent to collect Netto. He could also tell from the look on Rukia's face that she hadn't expected them to be here so quickly, but he was worried because he could see fear in her eyes. "So you're here for the kid."

The raven-haired Shinigami entered the room first followed by his partner who had flaming red hair. He completely ignored Kurosaki and spoke directly to Rukia, "I have been given some rather disturbing information...my dear sister. According to my contacts here you gave your powers to a human and from what I'm seeing that seems to be the only plausible explanation. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Just who the hell are you?" shouted Ichigo as he put himself between his friend and the stranger. The new guy seemed to stare right through him as though he wasn't even there and that only ticked him off. "Stop ignoring me!" he shouted swinging his Zanpakuto at the Shinigami only to see him disappear. "Huh?" The next thing he knew the man had reappeared on top of Ichigo's blade. _"Unreal. Such speed shouldn't even be possible."_

"My name is Byakuya Kuchiki and you must be the disgraceful substitute Shinigami that I've heard about. The funny thing is that they said that you had talent and yet all that I see is a little boy waving a sword around without any grace or strategy." The man now known as Byakuya then back flipped kicking Ichigo into the wall on the other side of the room. "Be a good boy and stay there. I'll be getting to you soon enough, but first I have business with my adopted sister and the newborn Shinigami."

Netto lowered into a defensive stance and his eyes narrowed on Byakuya. He then surprised Rukia by moving himself between her and her brother just as Ichigo had done.

"You must be Netto Hikari. It's an honor to meet with an Hikari Shinigami." Kuichiki then looked past him to his little sister and said, "I'm also under orders to bring your back to the Soul Society to await trial for your crime. Please just come along quietly. There is no need for anymore violence here."

"Like hell there isn't." said Ichigo prying himself out of his impression in the wall. "I'm curious did you ever think about the reason behind your sister's actions? We let me tell you, Rukia was badly injured by the Hollow that she was hunting and couldn't fight back anymore. She gave me her power so that I could protect my family and her from that thing. My family owes her our lives, so if you are going to take her you're going to have to go through me first."

"The same goes for me." said Netto surprising everyone. He noticed the smirk on Ichigo's face and said, "I don't really understand all of this stuff about being a Shinigami, but I will always choose to follow my heart. Right now it's telling me that she is a good person with good intentions. I know about breaking the rules in order to save people and this looks to be the same thing."

"Thank you." muttered Rukia just loud enough for the two Shinigami to hear.

"No sweat. What are friends for?" said Ichigo before glancing to Kon. "Hey Kon get my body out of here. We'll catchup with you later." Without another word the mod soul jumped through the window and dashed off into the city.

"You do realize that he's probably going to go flirting with every beautiful woman that he finds right?" questioned Rukia. Even with a situation like this you could always trust Kon to be Kon.

Rukia's brother sighed and then looked at his companion. "If this is the way that you choose to be about it then I guess that you leave us with no other choice." Before they could ask what he had meant the three Shinigami were rendered unconscious due to strong blows to their stomachs. "Renji take the loudmouth while I carry my sister and the Hikari. We'll take the three of them to the Soul Society and work it out from there."

The red-haired Shinigami did so very reluctantly as he'd already hated the Kurosaki teen and then they departed for the Soul Society. _"The Hikari kid must not know about his family's true legacy. This is going to be very interesting."

* * *

_

"Dr. Hikari I failed. We found Netto a few hours ago and...he's dead." informed Enzan. As he'd expected both Haruka and Yuuichiro broke down into tears. Rockman wasn't taking the news any better, but what surprised Enzan the most was that Saito was still alive. He knew from a conversation with Netto that if one of them died then the other would also. _"Guess Dr. Hikari was wrong for once."_

Ijuin sat down on the couch watching the grieving family with a bit of envy and prepared himself to explain what little they knew. On the inside he was also crying over the loss of one of the few people he would dare call 'friend'. He swore that he'd find out what happened and make who or what killed Netto pay. If he knew...

* * *

**Author's Note:** Again thanks for all of the reviews. They help me avoid writer's block by keeping me motivated to write, so review already. 


	4. Hikari Legacy and Fallout

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE or Bleach

**Hikari Shinigami**

**Review Section:**

**Daniel1454- **Thanks. I wanted a quick way to show Netto that he was really dead and this is what came to mind...besides seeing his own body that is.

**Dragon and Sword Master-** Netto's blade is going to come into the story more as it progresses and it'll some unique qualities.

**Firehedgehog-** Thanks for the review and this is me keeping my promise. Faster reviews means faster updates.

**Yami Ami-** Thank you. Now I'm gonna have to ego deflated, um-hm. And yeah I like to put in surprises like the one that you'll see in this chapter. As for Hikari Shinigami...well it was either Shinigami Hikari or Hikari Shinigami. Hikari Shinigami just sounded better when I said it. Regal wants Netto dead, but his master wants him to suffer greatly first and Kon is out doing his thing. Anyway you'll see in the chapter below.

**miforever29-** All reviews are appreciated, but the latest one was a juicy motivator. Thanks again.

**Hotshot45-** I try to make sure that it's nicely done. Enjoy the update.

**Slayer.EXE-** I'd love to see a pic of Hollow Forte. I also intend to expand on the idea of people looking for answers. Not really sure where I'll take that yet.

**Kawazoe Kazuma-** The 'Hikari Legacy' will be explained in this chapter. I'm not really sure where you might have seen this before unless it was in 'Mark of the Beasts'. Anyway thanks for your review or motivation as I prefer to call them.

**Spellcaster Hikaru-** I'll admit that it was tricky working the themes together, but in the end I was pleased with the results and I'm glad to hear that you agree. I've thought about adding Enzan and/or Laika to the world of Bleach...the jury is still out on that one though. And the reason why Byakuya and Renji were OOC is because I have seen or read all of Bleach yet. I'm working with knowledge from the dubed version and info from online sites. Please forgive any big mistakes.

**Toko Tenpi-** I'm glad that you loved it. I think that the surprises in this chapter are really going to through some of my readers for a loop. Then again that's what I try for. Enjoy!

**DaisukeNiwa14- **Rockman is going to be scarce for a while, but he will be an important part of the fic later on. How? I don't feel like tell anyone yet. Enjoy the update.

Thoughts _"blah"_

Chapter 4

After Kon escaped from the hotel he started making his way to the airport, that is until he ran across a team of cheerleaders. _"Hmmm. Meet up with Ichigo or many beautiful women? Ichigo, women, Ichigo, women...Well I can be 'a little' late."_ He approached the one that he assumed to be the team leader and said, "Well hello there ladies. Lovely day isn't it?"

They all stopped gossiping and turned their attention to the newcomer. He wasn't a football player or anything, but he was very appealing to the eye they thought. The girls began passing glances between each other trying to determine who was going to get the orange haired teen.

"He's mine!"

"But you already have a boyfriend!"

"Who are you to talk? You've got three."

"All of you are unworthy! He's too sexy for you."

"He's out of your league too! Just because you lucked up with that one hunk doesn't entitle you to all of them!"

From the sideline Kon couldn't help but allow a smile to grace his face. _"Give them just a little more time. Timing is everything."_ He continued to watch the debate with an award winning smile on his face until one of the girls shoved two others. _"That's my cue."_ He cleared his throat getting their attention and said, "Ladies, ladies there is no need to be like that. There's more than enough of me to go around and you should know that I've never had any complaints."

* * *

"Wake up. Rise and shine sleeping beauty." Getting no response the teen pulled back a fist and aimed straight for the top of the head. "Wake up!" 

"Ow! That hurt! What did you do that for?" shouted Netto. While rubbing his head he took in his new surroundings. He found Ichigo standing over him looking pissed, although not really at him, and Rukia glaring at a guard. They seemed to be inside of a dark, dank prison with one guard to keep them company. Netto looked down and sighed, "Why do I keep getting kidnapped? Who did I piss off to deserve this?"

"Good to see that you are all awake." They all looked at the cell door to see Byakuya now standing in front of them. He glared at Ichigo who glared back before turning his attention to Rukia. "I'm very disappointed in Rukia. I thought that you knew better than to do something like this."

"Leave her alone!" shouted Ichigo. He hated how smug this guy was, but more importantly he hated how this Shinigami had managed to take all three of them down in the blink of an eye. Kurosaki vowed that he would beat this guy somehow, someway as soon as he got his hands around his smug little neck. It had become a matter of pride to Ichigo and would die sooner than admit defeat.

"It's ok. I can handle myself." said Rukia. She stood up and walked over to the door. The Soul Reaper knew better than to try to reach through them as enchantments prevented them from passing through and delivered a nasty shock. "What I did, I did to survive...to have a clean conscience. I was fully aware of the consequences of my actions when I gave Ichigo my power. Granted that I didn't intend for him to drain me dry, but I did give them of my own free will. It was done for my survival as well as his and his family's. Surely you can't fault me for something like that?"

"The reason behind your actions are irrelevant, the fact that committed the crime is the issue here." said Byakuya. Unnoticed to the other two male Shinigami his eyes softened slightly.

Netto heard footsteps coming down the spiral stairway on the other side of the bars and searched for their owner. Moments later a tall man with long white hair tied up into a ponytail stepped into view. He had a eerily familiar white beard and wore what Netto assumed was traditional Shinigami clothing. "Who are you?" he asked watching the man while trying to place where he'd seen him before.

"Ha ha ha ha! I guess that I shouldn't be too surprised that you don't recognize me Netto." said the man sheepishly. He turned to Byakuya and the guard and said, "I'll be taking them to one of the interrogation rooms. I take full responsibility if anything should happen."

The guard went to protest, but Rukia's brother silence him with a hand gesture. "He can be trusted not to do anything foolish. Besides if they try to escape they'd be beaten faster than before."

As soon as the door was open Kurosaki went straight for Byakuya's throat only to find the man behind him with a Zanpakuto held to his throat. "The swine never learns. And to think that my dear sister believes you to be worth saving. I have to seriously consider calling her judgment into question here." taunted the older Kuichiki. With a swift blow Ichigo was sent tumbling to the floor face first.

"Alright children are you done yet?" asked the white haired man with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Please follow me and don't pick anymore fights Ichigo. You're in enough trouble as it is without adding to the offense."

"But he didn't do anything wrong." said Netto as Rukia stepped out of the cell and stood by Kurosaki. "What's wrong with protecting each other as they did?"

"It's not about protecting each other, but about how they did it. I don't expect you to understand this Netto, thanks to that father of yours, but for a Shinigami to give his or her powers to a human it's like murdering a police officer or government official." said the man. They couldn't help but notice how his brown eyes darkened when he mentioned Netto's father. It seemed like a mixture of anger, pain, and resentment wrap together.

The young Hikari still made no move to exit the cell due to the unnamed Shinigami standing so close to the door. Netto didn't trust the man nor his intentions. "What exactly is it about my father? You don't even know him!" he shouted as he gripped his hand into a fist.

Rukia and Ichigo knew what the boy was about to do and were fairly certain of the outcome. Seconds later Netto threw the fist at the man that had upset him only to have his fist stopped by one finger. "Quite a punch that you've got there. I see that your duties as a NetSavior have toughened you up quite a bit." The Shinigami then seemed to drift off into his thoughts as he said, "I remember when you were smaller how you'd cry so easily." Netto tried again and again to hit the man only to have his fist stopped every time. "I should wring Yuuichiro's neck for not giving you a proper upbringing. Such a stubborn boy..."

Netto threw another punch, but this time he followed up by stomping his foot down on the white haired Shinigami's foot. The Soul Reaper let out a yelp both at the pain and at having been caught off guard. "Don't you ever talk about my father like that! He raised me well thank you!"

Rukia gasped catching Netto and Ichigo's attention. "I get it now. Then he's..." she trailed off pointing at the brunette. A quick nod from both Netto's victim and Byakuya confirmed her suspicions. "Well that explains a lot." she muttered.

"Lets finish this conversation in a place less...gloomy." he said walking to the stairs before whispering to himself, "And where I can get an ice pack. Kids these days..."

To discourage any unacceptable behavior Rukia's brother followed close behind and ushered them along to the interrogation room. _"So he's going to tell the boy the truth. This isn't going to go well. Hopefully Rukia and her idiot have enough sense to stay out of it."

* * *

_

Walking down the streets of Akihara surrounded by girls on both sides was our favorite mod soul 'borrowing' Ichigo's form. He enlisted a lot of glares from many male teenagers as they wished that they were him. On both arms he carried a girl and a lecherous grin. "...and that my dear ladies is why nobody offends a lady while I'm around. You are all such beautiful young ladies, no...goddesses and should be treated as such."

The cheerleaders went to giggling at the compliment and tried to latch themselves onto the orange haired teen. By now Kon had worked enough of his magic to get them to do anything that he wanted which was not a good thing. _"Step one complete. Time to begin step two."_

"Hey, wait up! Over here!" a voice shouted across the street.

Kon immediately found the source and his eyes widened. _"What the heck is 'he' doing here? He's going to cramp my style!"_ "Come on girls. Lets go see a movie or something. I'd also love to hear all about such gorgeous women."

"But isn't that crazed man calling for you?" asked the blond in the group. Two other nodded thinking the same thing.

"He's probably looking for a different guy." he lied and tried to speed up their retreat. Before they could turn around a corner a small rock was sent flying at his head. Kon turned around and growled, "That's it. Someone is so dead..."

"Now who are all of these lovely young ladies?" asked Kon's pursuer. He extended his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Ichigo's father. Isshin Kurosaki at your service." Giving his son an enthusiastic smile he added, "Come on it's time for some male bonding."

Two of the cheerleaders started to snicker at Kon's situation while the rest of them felt pity. The mod soul was torn between fighting it out and running away. He should be able to take Isshin, right? The down side would be that Ichigo would get punished and that punishment would roll down hill to Kon. _"Wait! Why is he even here in the first place? How did he know where I was going?"_ Before the mod soul could decide Isshin did for him by dragging him off muttering something about a golf course. _"ICHIGO! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

* * *

_

In the NetSavior HQ Enzan and Laika stood before Commissioner Kifune and Manabe. To the left sitting in the many recently added chairs was the entire NetSavior Battle Committee and to the right of them was Dekao. "Enzan I know that this is a harsh period of time for you. We are all grieving over the loss of one of the finest NetSaviors that we've had the privilege of working with. We must, however, remain strong and see to it that justice is done."

"But sir, was it not in the initial report that the...slaying was the act of a wild animal." objected Laika. He knew that there was more to it after having seen the photos of the basement area. It didn't take a trained eye to tell that there was a serious struggle that didn't verify the assumption of an animal attack and even so there were no known animals in the city that were capable of that kind of damage. The soldier wanted to get any piece of information that he could from the Commissioner and the only chance he had was through slip ups.

"I was under the same impression until I saw the photos take of the crime scene. It looks far too much like a setup than a 'wild animal'." agreed one of the Committee. Her name was Riza Kanbara and one of the major financial supporters of the NetSaviors in Japan. The other members could tell that this woman was not angry, but royally pissed. "I also heard that Meiru Sakura was a witness to some of the bizarre occurrences leading up to Netto's death. I'd like to know where she is at this time?"

Enzan spoke up before Kifune. "Ms. Sakura was romantically involved with Netto, so she's taking this...very badly. The doctors have examined her and she...she's been non-responsive to all external stimuli since she saw the body."

"The girl is catatonic?" asked Riza in surprise. She should've expected something like that.

Enzan nodded and said, "Yes, but Dekao here heard and saw the same things that she did."

Kifune called attention to the large teen. "Well Dekao, can you tell us what happened?"

Dek looked up with tears in his eyes and said, "This isn't something that I want to remember, but...if it'll help nab the ones responsible for Netto's death then I'll do my best. We were friends, rivals and I want to see who or whatever did this pay." Over the next thirty minutes he repeated, in as much detail as possible, what he saw and heard. He told them about how Netto claimed to see a huge spider creature that he and Meiru couldn't see. The Committee heard about how Netto ran in order to protect the lives of other people in the building and were now more determined than ever to find the culprit(s).

When Dekao had finished the Committee and Commissioner were silent. No one could figure out what was going on and the information that they did have was sketchy at best. Finally after deliberation Kifune came to a decision. "I want the entire hospital staff reviewed thoroughly. Check out everyone that was on the grounds and the security videos. I also want the witnesses reinterviewed that witnessed the first strange occurrence at Sci-Labs and review the security tapes there as well." When he settled down he took a deep breath and said, "All that we have are pieces to this puzzle and none of them are fitting into place. I want answers. Netto's family deserves that much especially after everything that they've done for the world." He stood from his desk and dismissed everyone except the Committee.

* * *

Once in the interrogation room the white haired man sat down and motioned for the other three Shinigami to do the same. Byakuya remained outside of the door and shut it so that no one was privy to the conversation. _"I wonder how well the boy will take it?"_ he thought. 

Inside Netto continued to glare at the man, but couldn't help feeling as though he knew him from somewhere. "So what do you want? You already know what Rukia did to save Ichigo and that both of us tried to protect her." he spat venomously.

The unnamed Shinigami sighed and said, "I'm not here to grill you about that even though my superiors believe that I am. He can't show it but your brother does care about your safety Rukia."

"Oh yeah and why is that?" asked Ichigo.

Rukia was the one to answer. "If he rushed to my defense then he would just be dragged down with me. His entire team would bare that disgrace...honor is a big deal for most of us. We just look at it in different ways."

"Correct." said the man. He turned back to Netto to see if the boy comprehended any of this and was relieved to see that he understood. Netto didn't agree with it, but he got the point. "I suppose that I should start by telling you who I am." he said smiling at the brunette. "I am your grandfather, Tadashi Hikari."

"No way! My grandpa is retired and he's no where near as young as you!" growled Netto.

Tadashi smirked which only angered his grandson even more. "Netto you of all people should know that nothing is necessarily what it seems to be. Your friend Rukia has probably figured out our 'legacy' by now, right?"

The raven haired Shinigami nodded and said, "There are some families in the human world in which they possess the innate ability to become Shinigami at will. I've only heard about such families, but I've never met one until now." Look at the elder Hikari she asked, "If what you say is true then why wasn't Netto trained to handle the Hollows that attacked him? Why does know nothing about the life of a Shinigami?"

Tadashi lowered his head in shame. He folded his hands together and sat his chin on them. "That is actually my son's doing."

"Say what?" Ichigo like Netto really didn't understand what that meant.

"My son has never believed in the supernatural and as such has cut anything that couldn't be explained away by science out of his life. When I raised him he flatly refused training and said that he would **never** allow me to subject his boys to 'my silly superstitions'. The interesting thing is that he has seen Hollows before." Tadashi offered his grandson a grim smile and then went on, "To put it bluntly your father is in such a bad case of denial that he risked the lives of you and Saito simply because he refused to believe in our way of life. When I tried to reason with him and persuade Haruka to assist me Yuuichiro completely cut me out of your lives."

Netto felt as though his entire world was coming crashing down around him. He now knew why his dad said that his grandfather couldn't visit ever since he was six years old. It meant that ever letter that he sent to his grandpa or had received from Tadashi never reached the other. He felt so betrayed and angry at his father for keeping such a secret especially one that cost him his life. "How could he...Why?"

"I sorry that you had to hear this from me now, but your father made sure that I couldn't approach you or your brother. Hikaris have always had large amounts of spiritual energy and that is what attracts Hollows to our family." Tadashi looked over the brunette and took his hand. "While that stubborn fool kept me away I was still able to protect you and your brother from a distance. I've tangled with a number of nasty Hollows just to keep you safe, but I knew that this would happen one day. I could feel it in my bones."

The younger Hikari's head quirked to the side and he asked, "Do we even have bones? I thought that Shinigami were just beings made of ectoplasm."

"Ha ha ha ha. No boy, you've been seeing way too many movies. Comics too I'm betting." On some level he couldn't help but find Netto's beliefs to be amusing simply because of there inaccuracy, but in truth he wanted to rip Yuuichiro a new one. He'd warned his son again and again that something like this was going to happen, but the 'scientist' refused to listen as though he could simply deny the Hollows out of existence. "Grrrrr! I blame your father for this. If he'd simply let me train you then there wouldn't have been any real problems. You could've handled your assailant on your own and nobody would be any wiser. There have been others that don't work for the Soul Society, but still they are trained to handle these kinds of situations should it be needed."

"You are not the only one angry at him. Did he even tell you about what he did for Saito?" asked Netto.

"Huh? What's this about your brother? If my understanding is correct he died of disease when he was a little over two years old." The elder Hikari waited to hear what else that son of his had done in his absence. He already knew that Yuuichiro spend long weeks, even months away from his family and he was not happy about that. It had already led to a number of fights between him and his son. _"I should have done something. Tried harder..."_

"True, but Saito didn't stay dead. You see papa used his scientific knowledge to resurrect Saito as a NetNavi. He's the one that's been in the news so often, Rockman!" he finished with a note of pride. His expression changed to a worried one when he saw his grandfather's reaction. The man had narrowed his eyes and seemed to be deep in thought. "Grandpa, what is it? Did I say something wrong?"

"Hmmm...Oh no Netto. It just reminded me of a conversation that I've had before with your father and no I'm not going to tell you about it." He was beginning to understand what was going on and he really hoped that he was wrong. "Did your father by chance use DNA to 'resurrect' Saito? Was there a 'link' between you and Rockman?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Netto hoping to get an answer this time. "Please tell me grandpa." he begged using wide, watery chocolate brown eyes and a trembling lip.

_"Oh you have got to be kidding me. He's trying to get to me with the 'puppy dog attack'. I was never good at resisting that. Why did he have to remember that of all things?"_ thought the elder Hikari. Quickly he thought of a way to get his grandson to stop with that face. "I will after I find out if I'm right or not. No sense in telling you something and getting you all worked up for nothing."

Netto couldn't argue with the logic behind that idea, but since when has Netto ever been one for logic. "Can't you even drop me a hint? PLEASEEEEEEEEEE."

From their seats Rukia and Ichigo had a hard time not laughing at the spectacle. Both were thinking that the old man should just fold because they were certain that he couldn't win nor escape.

"First things first Netto, we need to discuss getting Rukia and the rest of you out of hot water with the Soul Society." said Tadashi as he desperately tried to change the subject. It succeeded.

"So there is a way to get us out of this?" asked Ichigo. When Tadashi nodded he asked, "What do we have to do?"

"You let me handle that, but first I must ask you just how far are you willing to go to protect my grandson and Rukia?" The old man was certain what answer he'd get, but he needed the confirmation before he could put his plan into motion.

Ichigo eyed the elder Hikari with a look of determination and answered, "As far as I have to go."

"Would you risk your very soul to fix this?" Tadashi asked. Kurosaki nodded and the old man ended saying, "Good. Because you will most likely have to. Don't talk to anyone or say anything about a way out. Just behave as you were and let me handle things." He then stood and started to walk over to the door when Netto caught his attention. "Yes?"

"Before you go could you at least tell me how my body is different now that I'm dead? Before I didn't have a pulse and yet now I do." He was unaccustomed to the Shinigami lifestyle and had no idea about much of anything. A fact that could be blamed solely on his father.

"The first day or so after one becomes a Shinigami they lack a pulse, the need to eat, having to blink, health pink skin, and other things like this. You see your soul is accustomed to having a body perform certain functions and once body is gone your soul has to adjust basically becoming a spiritual replica of your body. You've been dead for three days now, so you should be feeling hungry by now." he said only to be cutoff by Netto's stomach growling. Tadashi sweat dropped and said, "I'll see about getting you three some food."

As his grandfather walked out of the door he heard the white haired man say 'be safe'. _"I will grandpa, I will."_ "Rukia is there some special place where I can be trained quickly to make up for my father's interference?"

"Well yes, but you'd have to go there for seven years. You'd be twenty years old before you could leave there and officially begin your duties as a Shinigami...I've wondered about sending Ichigo there, but I know that it wouldn't work." She knew that it was the wrong thing to say when her partner turned her to face him. "Well for starters you are not likely to part with your body for seven years and secondly people would notice. I mean we could substitute Kon for the entire duration, but then you'd have lost seven years and know nothing about what happened during that time."

He nodded in understanding and said, "Still it wouldn't be a bad idea to send Netto since he doesn't have that problem. Unless of course Tadashi could train him better."

Rukia shook her head and said, "The Soul Society would have to have records showing his improvements and capabilities. I don't know if his grandfather is even qualified for such a task. In any case all that we can do now is wait. We may not even be able to get that far if the Soul Society has there way and executes the three of us...well executes me and puts you two behind bars for a few years."

"You remind me of Laika." commented Netto as he propped his feet up on the table. He then tuned out the rest of the conversation as his mind began to wonder back to Meiru. _"Will I ever be able to see her again?"

* * *

_

"He's being held by the Soul Society. Apparently our prey decided to protect a wanted fugitive...a Shinigami no less." reported Dr. Regal.

The serpent Hollow grinned and said, "Well then we'll just have to talk with our 'mutual' friends and lure the brat out into the open."

Regal retorted, "That won't be possible. They won't be in place for a few more years. For now there is nothing that we can do except wait and hope that the Soul Society doesn't put the boy to death first. I'm sure that you'd hate to be robbed of that pleasure Phantom."

Phantom smiled viciously behind his mask. "Then wait we shall. I would wait until the end of time to see to it that Netto Hikari pays for his betrayal. I'm quite certain that he'll make it out of that situation alive...he always does." _"You will be mine in the end. Nothing can change that fate, not even Tadashi."_

_

* * *

_

**Author's Note:** I am sorry if I get any of the details wrong concerning Bleach. I'm working with my understanding of it and filling in the blanks. Please enjoy the story and leave a review for faster updates.


	5. Setting the Pieces

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE or Bleach

**Hikari Shinigami**

**Reviews:**

**Dragon and Sword Master: **Unfortunately I've only seen the dubbed version, but I am searching for the subbed versions. Saito will be an interesting case as you'll learn later on in the fic. I wasn't really planning on Netto's and Ishida's dads being alike, but oh well.

**Kawazoe Kazuma:** Glad to know that it's addicting. I aim to please.

**Sage:** Netto's death was necessary for what I've got in mind and I hope that you like the coming chapters.

**Spellcaster Hikaru:** Thanks for the link. I'll use it to try to bring myself up to speed on all things Bleach. I also knew that Isshin was a Shinigami thanks to Thanks and I hope that you like the update fire-chan.

**Hotshot45: **You know that I'll continue. Hopefully I won't get stuck anywhere, but if I do I'll ask for ideas.

**Beta the Second: **Thanks, I think. Kon's going to have his hands full with Isshin in the next chappy, so sorry for leaving him out in this one.

**miforever29: **Well I tried to make Tadashi's appearance completely unexpected. I'll have to try harder next time. I can't really give you much about the link without giving some of the story away so you'll get nothing more from me. Muwhahahaha!

**Saber-chan:** Alive in a sense, yes. Netto's going to be spending a lot of time in the Soul Society later on.

**Muscially Goner: **I haven't played DMC3 so I have no idea who Jester is. I'll take your word on it though. I also hinted at the Zanpakutos name and you'll see it again soon.

**Arisu Tsuranu: **Yes, I killed Netto. It's for a good cause and you'll see later.

**Gundamknight: **YYH and Bleach are a lot alike that's true. Meiru won't be able to see Netto as Keiko did with Yusuke, but she will be able to sense his presence later on.

**rosered32: **I haven't seen any Bleach/Rockman crossovers. If you have any links please send them.

**Anime Ryu and Okami: **Ok I won't. Here's your update. Enjoy.

Thoughts _"blah"_

Spirits talking **_"blah"_**

Chapter 5

At Sci-Labs Laika and Enzan continued to pour through the security tapes of the first attempt on Netto's life. At first they just noticed a few strange things like cables being ripped to shreds with nothing around, but then Enzan started to look back further before the first attack at other 'accidents' that had taken place around Sci-Labs.

The more Ijuin watched the tapes the more be began to realize that someone or something had been targeting Netto for a lot longer than anyone had originally thought. Freezing yet another frame amongst the nineteen already placed on the main monitor he looked at Laika and said, "These 'accidents' have been going on as far back as four months ago and yet no one noticed until just now. Sci-Labs' security needs some serious revisions and..."

Laika wondered why Enzan had stopped talking and looked at his monitor. Around Netto he could see a raven-haired girl and orange-haired boy examining the scene and Netto after the generator had fallen. "What is it? Do you know them or something?"

Blues answered, "Maybe. Give me just a moment." The crimson navi went to work pulling up more footage and placed it on a side monitor. "This is the security tape from the hospital around the time of Netto's murder."

Laika and Searchman watched the screen and saw the same thing, the boy and girl from before walking towards the hospital exit. This time however the girl was thrown over the guys shoulder. Looking closer the NetOp and NetNavi could see some blood coming from the girl's body. They continued to watch as the orange haired boy exited through the back doors and caught another odd thing. Shortly after the boy went through the door closed and it opened again except this time nobody was holding it open or at least not anyone that they could see. "So whatever attacked Netto seems to be after them too or perhaps those two sent it after Netto. It's hard to tell from the tapes, but it looks like he just turned around and...he looks scared now. Whatever it was has to been after them too."

"I agree." said Enzan. "Whatever killed Netto was definitely after these two people as well. We need to find them and find out what they know about what is going on." With rapid keystrokes Ijuin isolated an image of both subjects and saved it to his PET. "Blues get these images to HQ and tell them to detain these two as soon as they are found. Make sure reporters don't find this or else we may spook them and lose them."

"Yes sir." replied Blues before disappearing with the data.

Now the two NetSaviors felt they were finally getting somewhere in the investigation and hopefully the two teens would be found before there were more fatalities. What they wanted most though was that the two kids had some knowledge that would point to Netto's killer(s).

**_"Now, now. This won't do at all."_** said a voice neither teen could hear.

Feeling please with a possible break in the case Laika took a sip of his much needed coffee and caught Enzan's body flying into the monitor as he lowered it. Laika jumped out of his chair and started frantically looking for any sign of an intruder. "Come out! I know that you are there!" he shouted, but it does no good since his opponent was not of the living.

**_"Ha ha ha ha! You've got guts boy...I wonder what they would look like? Maybe we should find out?"_ **With that Phantom moved closer to Laika and would've had a smirk on his face if he could. _"This little punk is really quite amusing. As if staring around the room is going to miraculously make me visible to him. What a joke."_ The serpent Hollow drew back his claws took a swing only to have his wrist grabbed by Laika and thrown into a wall. **_"Now how in the seven hells did that happen? Can you actually see me you little twit?"_**

Phantom got his answer when Laika said, "I might not be able to see you, but we soldiers develop a sixth sense of sorts. We can tell when an enemy is about to strike."

_"Yeah right. Then how come you didn't sense me knock the crap out of Enzan?"_ Phantom thought as he observed Laika. For several minutes he did nothing except watch Laika and look at the environment around himself. Carefully he snaked his tail around to the other side of the teen and lashed out with it. As he had expected Laika was caught off guard and thrown against the wall cracking his head open. **_"Sixth sense, huh? I don't really think that you have any sense opposing someone like me."_**

The Hollow turned his attention away from the humans since they were both out cold and not going anywhere anytime soon. Raising his claws he destroyed all of the security tapes and monitors. After finishing he turned back to the two unconscious humans and stuck a pose. **_"To kill or not to kill? That is the question. -snort- he he ha ha ha ha! Who am I kidding killing is what comes naturally to us."_** Raising his claws he slithered over to Laika and said, **_"You know I probably would have like you. What with you having been as cold to Netto as you were. Alas it was not to be."_**

_**"You took the words right out of my mouth."**_

Phantom turned his head and saw a red head with tattoos slouched against a now open door. **_"Aw I'm sorry. Was this supposed to be a private party?"_** Renji pulled out his zanpakuto and smirked. **_"I know what it is...you just forgot my invite."_**

**_"Why do all Shinigami have to talk so much?"_** Phantom lunged at Renji biting down on the blade and throwing both of them out of the room. The Hollow kept a tight grip on the zanpakuto so that Renji couldn't use it to slice him in half. Phantom pushed the Shinigami down the hallway trying to force him to lose his balance, but Renji managed to keep himself steady.

**_"Stop biting my blade!"_** Renji shouted punching the Hollow's teeth again and again. Finally the Hollow released the Zanpakuto and tried to devour Renji in its place. **_"Big mistake asshole!"_ **Renji rolled under him just before Phantom sank his teeth into the wall. **_"Now we finish this!"_**

With a casual flick of his tail Phantom sent Renji soaring down the hallway into the lobby scaring the hell out of several people and alerting the desk hand that something was wrong. She quickly reached under the desk and pressed a bulky red button which set off the facility's alarms. Phantom glared at the woman, but knew that now was not the time to kill. He had to get out of here before a Dimensional Area was set up. In theory they would be able to prevent him from leaving the building or returning to Hueco Mundo. **_"So long Shinigami. Enjoy ha ha ha ha."

* * *

_**

After their conversation with Tadashi Hikari the three prisoners had been escorted back to their cell. "Now be a good little doggie and behave." said Byakuya. The elder Shinigami smirked as Ichigo threw himself against the bars and tried to reach his throat. He turned to Rukia and said, "Little sister I would recommend that you find better company...or at the very least put a muzzle on your mongrel."

"Say that again a little closer and I'll rip you head off!" Ichigo was pissed and he really wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off of the other Shinigami's face. _"Arrogant asshole! Just let me get my Zanpakuto back and I'll beat him to a bloody pulp."_

Netto just watched and thought to himself, _"You'd think that he'd realize that this guy could slaughter the three of us if he really wanted to. Even I can tell that Byakuya is way out of our league and I've had to face down Dr. Regal and Laserman before."_ Still he could see why Rukia's brother enjoyed taunting Ichigo so much, he always took the bait.

Ichigo glared at Byakuya's retreating figure trying to bore holes in the back of the Shinigami's head. "Man I really hate that bastard. No offense intended to you Rukia."

"None taken," she said getting a confused look from the orange-haired Soul Reaper. "I was adopted into the family. I'm not blood related to them."

Kurosaki growled and started staring at the guard. _"If only I had my Zanpakuto…"

* * *

_

The Shinigami Captains were all gathered in a large room discussing the matter involving Rukia, the human, and the newborn Shinigami.

So far most of the Captains seemed to be leaning towards executing both Ichigo and Rukia, but Tadashi had advised against it. "Executing both of them without first at least hearing their reasons could lead to new problems arising. Our fellow Shinigami will sympathize with them and may even help them escape."

"Then what would you suggest then Lieutenant Hikari?" asked Captain Unohana.

"A fair trial for both of them." suggested Tadashi.

To everyone's surprise Tadashi's Captain spoke up next glaring at his subordinate. "You know something that you're not sharing with the rest of us." The other captains looked directly at Hitsugaya. "I've worked with you for years Tadashi and I know when you're holding something back. The question now becomes…what exactly do you know that we don't?"

"…" Hikari stiffened and cursed himself for not considering this possibility.

Hitsugaya took a step towards his subordinate and demanded that he talk. "Out with Hikari!" The other Captains knew that he was started to lose his patience when they all felt the temperature in the room drop by about 20 to 30 degrees in the span of just a few seconds.

"I only have some suspicions on part of this, so please keep that in mind before I continue." said Tadashi. When the Captains nodded he pulled out a vial when clearly contained spirit energy. "This is energy that was recently taken from the human that is in possession of Rukia Kuchiki's power. It contains obvious signs of a Shinigami bloodline."

"Do you realize what you're implying Hikari?" asked Aizen. The Shinigami hardened his eyes at the lieutenant and waited for him to answer.

Tadashi knew that Aizen looked down on humans which included Ichigo. He refused to let Aizen's intimidation tactic work and said, "I know exactly what I'm saying and I've recently confirmed some of those facts."

"So then you…" began Hikari's Captain.

"Yes sir, I spoke with 'him' and he confirmed my suspicions." said the Lieutenant. He wanted to smirk as Aizen lost control of the other Captains. _"That should put that cold bastard in his place."_

Four-eyes smirked at Netto's grandfather and said, "Even if he was once one of us he should not be allowed to return unless he can prove that he can regain without depending on Rukia's to reactivate them."

Again Hitsugaya watched as his second in command lost his influence over his superiors. _"Well played Aizen. With this Ichigo must prove his metal or perish."_

With no further objections the meeting was adjourned. Tadashi scowled as he departed and started walking back to his room. "Aizen you soulless monster…"

A hand shot out from beside the white-haired Shinigami startling him out of his thoughts. His Zanpakuto drawn and thrust towards the hand only to strike air before he found his Captain standing on top of his blade.

"Jumpy are we?" the child-like Shinigami said hoping off of Tadashi's Zanpakuto. After receiving an apology from his Lieutenant he asked, "So how did the talk actually go?"

The taller Shinigami sighed and answered, "'He' was royally pissed. 'He' never wanted Ichigo to be a dog of the Soul Society and that's why he was kept hidden from us."

"So then 'he' knew that the boy had this power since birth? I understand now why you deliberately left that out." Toshiro glared at the floor and added, "The higher-ups are going to be pissed when words reaches them."

"Oh it gets better Captain," said the taller Shinigami, "I talked to him about Ichigo's fighting skills and found out something that I should've seen coming." Tadashi could see that his Captain was hanging on his every word now and he enjoyed stringing Toshiro along every so often. "He's been teaching Ichigo to fight since he was a little boy. Ichigo was always intended to eventually know about his true heritage once he came of age. Rukia's meddling only sped things up."

Toshiro remained quiet while his mind processed all of this new information. It turned out that this Ichigo Kurosaki was shaping up to be a very interesting character indeed. "So how are things with your grandson? It's my understanding that he took the talk about his heritage much better than was expected."

Tadashi's eyes widened in surprise since no one other than Byakuya should've been able to hear anything that was said. "How did…you know?"

The Captain did something that he rarely did…he smirked and answered, "Because I know you. Also try to remember that these walls have ears."

"_I'll remember that,"_ Hikari thought as he watched his superior disappear down the hallway. _"I should've known that my Captain would spy on me. Oh well, what's done is done."

* * *

_

Back in the human world Renji Abarai found himself trapped within Sci-Labs by a Dimensional Area. _"Why do humans have to be so damned annoying?"_ In truth he was just upset that he'd not only lost to a Hollow, but now had to run around a science facility while avoiding there guards.

Renji wished that he had some clue as to how to shut the generator down, but he didn't even know where the control room was. Even if he did find it he had no way of knowing how to shut the thing down without attracting attention. To make matter worse the humans searching the premises had specially modified sensors that could detect him if he were to get too close.

He couldn't kill them as they would assume that he was the 'monster' that had destroyed the security room and trashed the lobby. Ok, so he technically was responsible for the trashed lobby since it was his body that crashed through the doors and destroyed a glass table.

Renji prayed to every deity that he could think of to give him just one more crack at Phantom. He'd deliver his own kind of torture to the Hollow after the crap that he was going through right now.

As he passed around another corner he spotted a place where he thought that he could hide for a while. –Dr. Hikari– the sign said. It was unfortunate that he didn't know that Yuuichiro was not a fan of Shinigami or a believer.

"And just who are you and why are you in my office?" demanded the man sitting directly in front Renji. The scientist looked over Renji's clothing and his glare intensified ten fold. "Let me guess…my father sent you to get me 'to believe.' I told him to stay out of my life and away from my family and I meant every word."

Understanding quickly dawned on Abarai and he snapped back at Yuuichiro, "So you're the moronic doctor that I've been hearing about. I'd heard something about someone in the Hikari family, a black sheep if you will, that tried to ignore his heritage. This explains a lot actually…" Renji shot his own glare at Dr. Hikari startling the man slightly. "You of course realize that your son was murdered by a Hollow. You know the creatures that you don't believe in. Hollows can't be denied out of existence you incompetent moron. How does it feel to know that your son was murdered because of your refusal to accept what you are?"

Dr. Hikari stood up so quickly that his chair was thrown backwards into his bookshelf and knocked off several dictionary-size books. "How dare you try to place the blame on me! My son was killed by some kind of sick terrorists and my father expects me to believe that a ghost did this."

Yuuichiro moved around the desk getting in Renji's face and said, "You people make me sick. Pretending to be death gods and such in addition to using superstition to explain everything away."

Abarai shoved the doctor forcing the man to sit on his desk. "I didn't kill your son idiot. It was you negligence that led to his death and yours alone. We are Shinigami Dr. Hikari and so is your son. Lucky for you one of us was able to get to him before the Hollow devoured his soul."

"Get out!" Dr. Hikari seethed.

Renji growled, "With pleasure if I could get out of this Dimensional thingy. If not for that I would already be gone." As he left the doctor's presence he couldn't help but feel pity for this screwed up human wannabe and sympathy for Netto. _"I'm amazed that a Hollow hasn't wiped out this guy's entire family already. I've never seen such a case of denial."_

"The Dimensional Area generators will only be able to hold up for another three hours before we have to power them down. They've been used heavily lately to deal with Net Mafias using Nebula's old generators." explained Meijin. "We have to find this thing before that time or else it will escape and we'll be back to square one."

Renji smiled at his changing luck as he listened to the science geek give orders out to the security guards. He couldn't help wondering how the two humans that Phantom was after were doing, so he decided that he would try to slip in and check on them. _"Might as well. Besides it's not like there is anything else that I can do in the mean time."

* * *

_

In the Soul Society prison Ichigo was still pounding against the door trying to force it off its hinges. What seemed odd to him was that the guard not only didn't try to stop him, but he seemed amused by the teen's efforts.

"Ichigo will you knock it off already," shouted Rukia standing up from her bunk. "Those bars are too strong for you to move or haven't you figured that out yet."

Kurosaki scowled and responded, "It's better than just sitting around on my ass waiting to be executed. I didn't think that you were the type to just give up."

Netto, for once being the voice of reason, looked up and said, "Ichigo even if you did get out the guard would have Shinigami crawling within a matter of seconds. Let's not forget that these guys are far more experienced than we are and have greater numbers. The moment that you got out you'd be thrown back in here beaten to a bloody pulp most likely or have you so quickly forgotten about Byakuya." Netto knew that he had him there and added, "If it's only one guard then odds are that he's of sufficient skill to take the three of us at once. These guys don't seem to take chances from what I've seen thus far."

"Who are you?" demanded the guard as he turned his attention away from the quarreling prisoners.

Ichigo, Rukia, and Netto pressed against the bars to see who was coming. They were expecting Tadashi or someone under him to be visiting next. Instead they saw a teen with long red hair in a high-ponytail wearing Shinigami robes walked right up to the guard.

"State your business here," the guard demanded as soon as the boy was within striking range of his Zanpakuto.

Netto looked at the boy and whispered to Rukia, "He seems familiar for some reason. I just can't place when or where I know him, but I know that I know him." _"Recca-ryu"_ Netto looked at his two companions and asked, "Did you say anything?"

Both shook their heads and watched the boy smile the guard. It was clear to both that the boy didn't have permission to be down here and he seemed to be doing a good job pissing the guard off. It was like he was toying with the guard.

"_Recca-ryu"_

"There is it again. You have to have heard it that time." Netto frowned as both Shinigami again shook their heads and gave him a baffled look. He also swore that he heard Ichigo mutter something about 'the boy losing it'. "I'm telling you I heard someone say Recca-ryu."

The red head turned to Netto and smile sympathetically at the brunette catching the attention of both Ichigo and Rukia. The next thing anyone knew the guard had his head wedged between the bars and couldn't get it out. "You'll pay for this," he shouted before Ichigo lifted the guard's head.

"I wouldn't worry so much about him. You're at my mercy now." Ichigo cracked his knuckles as terror crept onto the man's face. "Rest assured that this is going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me."

Netto watched as the redhead grabbed the key while Ichigo entertained himself beating the hell out of the guard. Netto and Rukia exited stopping just outside of the door. "Who are you?" asked Rukia. "You'll be severely punished for helping us escape. They won't be lenient on you just because you're a kid."

"I'm aware of that Ms. Kuchiki. As for who I am…that's none of your business." With that said he led them towards the stairs leading out of prison. "Follow my lead and we'll retrieve your Zanpakutos."


	6. Escape

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE or Bleach

**Hikari Shinigami**

**Reviews:**

**Beta the Second- **Renji's terror in the human world will be short-lived. And Recca's involvement will be made clear at the end of the chapter. Hope that you enjoy.

**Musically Goner- **This time the delay wasn't writer's block...I was just too lazy to update. Sorry about that and here is to make amends.

**Spellcaster Hikaru- **Yeah I felt like changing a few pieces here and there. Rukia and Renji will still know each other, but he'll be less concerned about her.

**Kawazoe Kazuma- **Netto seems calm due to complete confidence in his grandfather.

**Anime Ryu and Okami-** Agreed. But some people are just like that and would reject the truth if it bit them in the ass. Of course in this fic it's likely to be literally. What do you guys think? Let Yuuichiro have an up close and personal encounter with a Hollow or not?

**Kin-Kitsune- **And no Recca is not Saito. You'll see what I mean at the end of the chapter.

**Reploid the Echidna- **Nope, there will be no crossfusion in this fic. Honestly do you think crossfusion would help against monsters much stronger than a human that they couldn't hear or see? No offence intended but I don't see that being very helpful.

Thoughts _"blah"_

Spirits talking **_"blah"_**

Chapter 6

Recca-ryu quietly led Netto and his cellmates through the maze like passages of the Shinigami stronghold. What amazed Rukia is that he knew his way around so well and yet she had never seen this kid before. _"Who are you? Why are you helping us?_ _He can't be from Tadashi since he told us to basically stay put. Just who are working for?"_

When they reached the armory where their Zanpakutos were held Recca held out an arm and motioned for them to stop. "Let me handle this." he said before disappearing into the next room.

The three Shinigami stood next to the stone wall and listened as best they could. Ichigo had a hard time not laughing with the performance that the kid was putting on. _"Who's going to believe that he lost his mother?"_

No sooner than Ichigo thought those thoughts two bulky Shinigami were thrown out of armory. Upon closer examination Kurosaki could tell that Recca had quickly given the two guards a serious work over. "For a little brat you sure seem tough."

Recca grinned mischievously and said, "Anytime you want to find out just how tough all of you have to do is ask." He turned to Rukia and said, "Go ahead and grab Zanpakutos," he looked at Netto, "Don't worry about yours. It's safe for the time being."

"How can I not worry about my sword? Rukia told me that our blades are technically alive and I won't abandon him." Netto glared at Recca daring him to even suggest doing the opposite.

Instead the red head smiled and said, "Your Zanpakuto is safe and you'll get it back as we leave. You won't be abandoning him and you can take my word on that."

Netto felt a strange connection between himself and this other Shinigami. There was something off about him…something that made Netto think that Recca wasn't really a Shinigami like he seemed. "I'll hold you to that. Give me any reason to believe that you're trying to get me to ditch my Zanpakuto to save my own ass and I'll tear you to shreds."

"_Aggressive isn't he."_ thought Ichigo and Rukia at the same time.

Recca seemed even more pleased than anything else. "Don't worry. I would never betray you Netto…never."

The brunette grabbed Recca by the shoulder and forcefully turned him around so that they eye to eye. Netto moved so that his face was inches away from Recca's. "I know you from somewhere, but I can't place where. Who are you really and don't lie to me saying that you are a Shinigami."

The red head was caught off guard by Netto's declaration. _"How did he know? I guess that he's a lot smarter than I thought or maybe it's just a sixth sense."_ Recca locked eyes with the Hikari and said, "I will tell you who I really am once we are out of here. Until then I only ask that you trust me."

Brown eyes examined the violet eyes of Recca-ryu searching for any sign of ill intent. Rukia and Ichigo grabbed their Zanpakutos while Netto and Recca were staring each other down. "Will you two knock it off until we are out of here? The last thing that we need is to be caught trying to escape. We don't have long before they figure out that we're loose."

"I assure you Ms. Kuchiki that it will be a while before they realize that we are gone. I timed the rounds of the guards to the second and according to my information we have…forty minutes before the next round." Recca shot her a know-it-all smirk before leading the way towards the exit.

"Why don't we just form a portal out of here like that prick Byakuya?" asked Ichigo.

Rukia smacked him on the head. "That was partly for my brother and partly for being so stupid. If we open a portal here it'll set off every alarm in the building. We'd have every one of the Captains on us in mere seconds."

"If that were to happen then none of us would make it out of here in one piece. We have to get outside of the large wall or else we'll be caught. Opening a portal inside is a last, desperate resort." added Recca from the front of the group.

Rukia increased her pace so that she was right next to the red haired teen and tried to look him in the eyes. "How are we going to get past the Gatekeeper? If we try to fight our way through then the other Shinigami will be alerted to our escape."

Recca pulled up a small pass and showed it to Rukia. "I stole it off of one of the guards. It's a four person pass, so as long as we reach the gate before they notice our lack of presence we'll be fine."

"And that's usually were everything goes wrong." said Netto. When the others glanced at him he said, "Personal experience."

* * *

Back in the human world Renji had found Enzan and Laika. To his surprise the Hollow hadn't injured them too badly. A few cuts and bruises were easily seen, but the biggest damage was most likely to their pride. _"Poor kids are going to really hate themselves for not knowing that the Hollow that killed their friend was in the room with them the whole time."_

Abarai watched a doctor came in and check their vitals. Enzan was the first to awaken and started glancing around the room. "Poor kid probably thinks that Phantom is still here."

"I know that you're there. You saved us from whatever attacked us and killed Netto didn't you." Enzan just stared around the room waiting for some sign that he was acknowledged.

Meanwhile Renji was surprised that the kid knew that they had been saved by him. He thought for sure that the kid would be paranoid or at least be expecting a Hollow to finish the job. "I would answer you, but you can't hear a word that I say."

"Not true. I can hear you, but I can't see you." Enzan answered.

Renji's eyes shot open again and he stared right into Ijuin's face. "So how much do you know kid?"

Enzan looked down at his bandaged arm and scratched at it. "I heard someone call you a Shinigami and something about a Hollow. I'm afraid that's all that I heard, but I have a feeling that this 'Hollow' is what killed Netto. Am I right?"

"_Smart kid."_ The Lieutenant knew where this was headed and decided to cut him off here and now. "Yes, Netto was killed by that Hollow and no you can't help. I know that you want to avenge your friend, but you don't have the power to do so. The creature that ripped out your friend's insides is, in terms that you can understand, an evil spirit."

Enzan slammed his hand down on the tray next to his bed. "You are not making me sit this out. Netto is…was one of the few friends that I've ever had. You can't expect me to let that thing go."

Renji quickly lost his patience with the NetSavior and jerked him out of the bed pressing him up against the wall. With the same fluid movements he had his Zanpakuto firmly pressed against Enzan's throat. "Now you listen to me you little snot…if you couldn't see me getting ready to strike what chance do you think you'll have against something that just wants to eat your soul? I'll tell you…you have no chance, no hope at all."

Abarai knew how the kid felt, but he couldn't allow the NetSavior to get in the way. The Hollow would die, but not by human hands. "That you want to avenge your friend is a good thing. It shows me that you have character, but…you lack the power to see spirits and even if you could you lack what is needed to slay Phantom." He released the dual haired teen and sat on the bed. "The Hollow calling himself Phantom is much stronger than you. I'm a Lieutenant and he managed to get the better of me. What I'm trying to say is Phantom will pay for the Hikari's death, but not at your hands."

Enzan slouched against the wall feeling completely helpless and that is one feeling that he hated more than any other. He was helpless when Blues was corrupted by the Dark chip, when his mother died, and now when his closest human friend died. For the first time in years Enzan felt tears sliding down his face.

The observant and incredibly impulsive Shinigami saw this despite the kid's attempt to hide them. He sighed as he watched the scene. _"I must going soft in my old age."_ He picked the kid up and set him on the bed. "Look I'm not going to promise you anything, but…"

Enzan instantly perked up as he waited to here what the voice said.

"…I maybe able to give you a chance to avenge your friend. I'll have to speak to my Captain first which means that I've got to get out of here. This Dimensional thing keeps me prisoner here and, as much as I hate to admit it, I don't know how to work the controls." Renji knew that the boy would help him out if only for a chance to tangle with Phantom.

"The generators have been under enormous stress lately. The main circuit for the generators is beyond your reach since it's encased in the lower levels of Sci-Labs deep underground." Enzan knew that he was acting out of character giving information like this to someone that could be his enemy and yet he felt that he should trust him. "The emitters however are a different story. The dishes on the roof a relatively unguarded and vulnerable. It's as simple as pulling out a wire for all four and the Dimensional Area will collapse."

"Thanks." Renji said heading for the door. "By the way," he said catching Enzan's attention, "My name is Renji Abarai, Lieutenant of the 6th Division."

Ijuin picked up his PET and displayed his NetSavior badge. "I'm Enzan Ijuin, NetSavior and Vice-President of IPC."

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't worry about staying in one place as I'll find you where ever you are." With those parting words Renji headed for the roof of the building. _"I've gotta be out of my mind for even thinking about doing this."

* * *

_

Back at the Hikari household Tadashi Hikari had decided to pay a visit. Granted that no one knew that he was even there in first place. He had decided that now was the opportune time to investigate one of his theories involving Netto and Saito. _"With any luck I'll be wrong. Oh please merciful Gods tell me that I'm wrong."_

Swiftly he made his way to Netto's room where he found his son's wife lying in Netto's bed asleep. In her arms was a picture of his grandson and Netto's pajama top. There were trail marks down Haruka's face where she had obviously been crying.

"Poor woman…If only that son of mine would've listened to me. I should have taken both Netto and Saito from him when I had the chance." Tadashi's heart was breaking at the scene in front of him and his anger for his 'little boy' grew with each passing second.

When the twins had first been born and Yuuichiro threw all things Shinigami out of their lives Tadashi had given serious thought to kidnapping his grandsons for their own benefit, but he hadn't gone through with it. Now as he stood there watching his daughter-in-law he wished that he had made the decision to take the boys.

"Is someone there?" asked a voice from a blue and white PET sitting on its charger. Tadashi figured that it had been put back on the stand before Haruka dozed off.

The white haired Shinigami picked up the PET and was surprised to see Rockman.EXE staring right into his eyes. He didn't think that the navi would be able to see him even if he was once human. "So you've retained the power to see spirits. That's good…Saito."

The blue navi was startled by this man's knowledge of his true identity. So much so that he overlooked the detail of the man stating that he was a spirit. It almost made Tadashi laugh at his grandson, but he sensed something off about Saito.

"Saito I know that you're going to have a hard time believing this, but I'm your grandfather." He knew that the odds of Rockman believing him were nearly non existent, but he figured that he'd give it a try anyway. Hopefully the Shinigami power within him would tell the boy that he was who he claimed to be.

"Assume for a moment that I believe you…why are you here? How is it that you are so young? Grandpa's a lot older than that." said Saito.

Tadashi's left eye twitched. _"Is that all everyone here sees me as…a plump, short, and wrinkling old man."_ Shooting his grandson a glare he said, "I'm a Shinigami Saito and I'd appreciate it if you were a little more open to possibilities. I mean after all you are a human reborn as a navi."

Saito had to admit that the strange man had a point. Still believing that his grandfather was a Shinigami was one heck of a stretch. "Prove it." he challenged expecting the man to throw in the towel then and there.

The elder Hikari smiled and said, "With pleasure. Would you like for me to start with the time you and your little brother decided that it would be a good idea to put laxatives in the babysitter's soda? Perhaps the time you and Netto put a lizard in your mother's bed or maybe when…"

"Ok, ok. I believe you." shouted the navi trying to quiet his grandfather. Very few people ever knew that he was just as much a prankster as Netto and he'd like to keep that way. There was his image to think about after all. "So grandpa why are you here?"

The Shinigami picked up the PET and sat down at Netto's desk. "I'm here to discuss some things with you about your brother and take you with me to the Soul Society. That's the world where Shinigami live and…where Netto is now."

"Netto's alive?" he asked with voice filled with hope.

"Uh…no. Netto is really dead, but that's ok." Tadashi felt a glare on him and looked down to see Rockman trying to burn a hole in his face. "Though not from your perspective. Netto is a Shinigami, a death god so something like this he can recover from."

"How's that? He's dead and it's not like Papa can resurrect him like me without attracting attention." said the elder Hikari twin in defeat.

"Now listen to me little one you're brother's body was killed, but not his soul. That means that he can come back using what we call a gigai. It's a fake body that we Shinigami use so that humans can see us." explained Saito's grandpa.

"But I can see you just fine. Then again I'm also a navi, so maybe that's why I can see you." Rock started wondering about all of the possibilities. _"If Shinigami can use Gigai then maybe I can live in one instead of this navi frame."_

The Lieutenant chuckled and said, "You don't see me because you are a navi. It's because you are a Hikari that you can see spirits. I am disappointed in your fear of ghosts though." He shot Rock an annoyed look and said, "You're a natural born Shinigami and yet you are afraid of ghosts. That makes absolutely no sense to me at all. How can someone from a Shinigami bloodline fear ghosts?"

"Well excuse me…but they're really creepy and all…ghosty-like." said Saito in his defense. He heard something and looked back up to see his grandfather red in the face. "Grandpa are you ok?"

Tadashi fell out of the chair laughing at his grandson. "Ghosty-like, where did you come up with a term like that?" he said in between breathes.

Rock crossed his arms over his chest and balled his fists. He really hated being made fun of and especially by family. The only one that he let pick on him was his brother and that was just sibling rivalry. "Are you finished yet?" he asked in bored voice.

"One more minute." answered the grandfather before he resumed laughing. Eventually he settled down, but there was still a teasing smirk on his face. "I'm done now. Getting back to my reason for being here, I came to bring you with me to the Soul Society and you will be able to see Netto again. That brother of yours has dug himself a rather deep hole by siding with two criminals."

When Saito asked for the whole story Tadashi began to explain while he fastened the PET around his neck with the neck strap. After he was finished he pulled out his Zanpakuto and said, "We're leaving now and don't worry about your mother. She'll be fine and this is probably the only way to stop the Hollow from coming after you as well."

"Won't it come after Mama and Papa?" asked Saito.

The Lieutenant shook his head and said, "Doubtful and even if it does there are some of us nearby watching over this place. I could only bring four, but they'll be enough to protect your parents."

"There's another reason why you're taking me with you isn't there." stated Saito as he saw a door open. It looked like the old fashion Japanese style buildings, but it was in the middle of his brother's room.

"Indeed there is, but I'd rather not say until I can confirm it. To do that I need you to come with me to the Soul Society." explained the grandfather.

The navi agreed and typed a message for his mother saying that he needed some time alone. _"I can't wait to see Netto again. I'd thought that I'd lost him for sure."

* * *

_

In the Soul Society Recca and the gang headed for the gate and were met with no resistance. Rukia thought that it was strange that the guard didn't recognize her or Ichigo, but she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Going somewhere are you?" said a voice from behind them.

The four Shinigami turned to see Byakuya and Hitsugaya standing there with Zanpakutos drawn. "Were you not enjoying our hospitality Kurosaki?"

The orange haired substitute Shinigami pulled out his blade and shouted, "Hell no! The food was awful, the service sucked, and I didn't get the Playboy channel."

The Shinigami around Ichigo stared in horror and shock at his response. They had all expected many things, but never that answer.

-SMACK-

Ichigo pulled himself off of the ground and rubbed his sore head. "What's the big idea?" he demanded whipping around to find Rukia standing over him. _"Uh-oh, she looks pissed."_

"What, I'm not good enough for you to even fantasize about? You're just interested in those girls with the huge breasts aren't you?" Rukia wasn't expecting Ichigo to behave like the guy in the Manga she had read, but still the guy could at least pretend to be interested.

Kurosaki tried to get up only to have Rukia jam her foot into his throat forcing him back to the ground. Knowing that she wasn't going to let this go now that it was out in the open he decided to get it over with. "If I even thought about you like that you'd slice them off."

"I'm getting very disturbed here." commented Netto.

Recca leaned in next to the newborn Shinigami and said, "Don't feel bad, so am I." While Ichigo and Rukia had the attention of both Captains and gatekeeper Recca-ryu opened the door between the Soul Society and human world.

Unfortunately he wasn't discreet enough and Byakuya caught sight of the door opening. With a quick thrust of his blade he dispatched Recca, but to everyone's surprise a gigai fell to the ground along with a Zanpakuto.

"That's…that's my blade." said Netto picking up the blade. Acting on instinct he placed his other hand on the flat side of the sword at its base. "Recca-ryu!" he shouted sliding his hand up the blade.

Ichigo and Rukia watched in shock as Netto achieved his initial release. The blade was covered in fire which quickly died away leaving a sword that resembled a frozen flame. The Shinigami turned his Zanpakuto towards both Byakuya and the shorter Shinigami Captain. "Eruption!" he shouted swinging his sword towards them.

A massive wave of fire tore through the air scorching the ground as it headed straight for both Captains. Rukia and Ichigo had been smart enough to move the second they saw Netto's release, but they were worried when the Captains looked bored.

"_You are indeed a Hikari Netto."_ thought Hitsugaya as he countered the raging flames with a single swipe of his Zanpakuto. He watched as his attack broke through Netto's and sent the Hikari into the open portal to the human world. "Whoops, looks like I overdid it a little."

Before anyone could follow the door closed due to it having been open as long as it was. Ichigo and Rukia were left to face two Captains and the other Shinigami that had come running after having sensed all of Netto's spiritual power be unleashed. As Recca had said the Captains were also all assembled, but they seemed to be mere observers at this point.

"Rukia we're in trouble." commented Ichigo raising his sword.

The older Shinigami mimicked the action and said, "For once I agree. It'd be one thing if it was just one Captain, but against all of them and reinforcements…we're screwed."


	7. Prelude to Destruction

Disclaimer: I do not own Rockman.EXE or Bleach

**Hikari Shinigami**

**Reviews:**

**Aki Kochou- **You'll see more of Recca although mostly as a spirit rather than a human.

**Beta the Second-** This is the quickest update that I could do given recent bugs. I refused to post until that was all cleared up.

**Spellcaster Hikaru-** Recca getting his hands on that Gigai will be explained in this chapter. Enzan will have some powers, but I haven't decided on Laika yet. If anyone has any suggestions for him I'd be glad to hear them.

**Anime Ryu and Okami-** Yes, actually the name does have meaning or atleast the best that I could do. Recca- means raging fire while Ryu- means dragon (Japanese). Sorry if my translation is off any.

**Firehedgehog-** Thanks and I tend to vanish a lot. Mostly because I oversleep.

**Musically Gone- **I had to give Saito a fun and wild side. It gets boring seeing the same old bookworm goody-good. How often are people really that good?

Thoughts _"blah"_

Spirits talking **_"blah"_**

Chapter 7

On the outskirts of Akihara chocolate brown eyes slowly opened and then quickly slammed shut due to the brightness. _"Looks like I made it back."_ His back hurt and the sheath digging into his back wasn't helping any.

Lifting himself up he heard glass crunching and looked down. He winced when he saw the source. Apparently after coming through into the human world he'd landed on the windshield of someones car. "Someone is really going to be happy about this one. He he, I don't think their insurance covers Shinigami collisions."

"I concur." said a well known voice.

Netto didn't even lookup as he greeted, "Hello Recca. How long have we been here? Where are the others?" When the red head didn't respond the Shinigami turned around and saw his Zanpakuto blade down where the driver would've been. Behind the sword the spirit sat on the top of the car refusing to meet his wielder's eyes. "Please tell me." Netto asked gently.

Recca knew that the teen was concerned, but there was nothing that they could do. "Netto-kun I'm sorry, but our friends didn't make it through the portal. Rukia and Ichigo are still trapped in the Seireitei."

Immediately Netto jumped to his feet ignoring the pain that shot through his body. "Then we have to save them."

Recca sighed. He knew that this was coming and getting his wielder to understand and accept it was going to be nearly impossible. Then again it was Netto's determination that Recca most admired about the Shinigami. "Netto I know that you are not going to want to hear this, but you will listen to me on this…"

Netto recoiled completely surprised by Recca-ryu's sudden change in demeanor.

The red head realized that he'd come on a little strong, but he really didn't have a choice if he wanted Netto to remain free. "Netto opening a door out of the Seireitei is possible, but we lack the ability to open a door into the Soul Society."

"So what you're telling me is that we can break out, but we can't break in?" Recca-ryu nodded and Netto slammed his fist onto the car setting off the alarm. Both gave it a funny look and muttered, "Now it goes off."

The spirit moved in front of Netto and said, "I would help you in an instant if it was possible, but we can't go back. The only way back in would require a Hell Butterfly which we don't have."

"Where could we find one?" asked Netto refusing to give up or heed his sword's warnings.

Finally Recca snapped, "NETTO! No one in this world possesses a Hell Butterfly except the Shinigami that have already been dispatched to recapture you. If you stay here and/or get caught then you will have betrayed Rukia and Ichigo." He saw the hurt register on his wielder's face and added, "They wouldn't want you to throw away your freedom in a vain attempt to save them. Trust in your grandfather to save them. Besides they won't be executed…"

Surprise replaced frustration and he asked, "What makes you say that? Didn't they say that our two friends were Capital offenders?"

The spirit nodded. "Yes, but Ichigo is like you and they know it." Recca smirked at the questioning look that his wielder sent him. "Kurosaki is from a Shinigami bloodline just as you are from such a bloodline. As for how I know…let's just say that a frosty shrimp told me."

"In other words you were spying on them and I'm guessing that the 'them' would be high-ranking Shinigami." said Netto as he put the sword back into its sheath and started walking around the city.

The spirit chuckled and mischievous glint in his indigo eyes. "Sometimes walls really do have ears." He ignored Netto's blank stare and disappeared back in Netto's Zanpakuto.

"Well that was an interesting experience." He started wandering around heading towards the more populated areas of the city. _"I hate to admit it, but I really can't do anything to help Ichigo and Rukia at all. I don't know enough about Shinigami or thei- our world to be of any use."_

As the young Hikari walked through the streets of Akihara he heard a racket coming from a nearby golf course. With no other destination in mind he decided to check it out. Remembering that no one could see or hear him he walked inside to snoop around.

At the third hole Netto couldn't help but spot spiky orange hair. _"That's Kin, right?"_ He walked up behind them and listened in.

"No, boy that's not how you hold it. Let your old man show you how it's done." said a man the young Shinigami didn't recognize. The man had brown hair and was obvious pissing Kin off if his death grip on the golf club was any hint.

What was even more amusing was when the mod soul pulled back the club and took a swing at the man's head. To Kin's misfortune he missed and Netto chuckled weakly.

Kin ignored Isshin looking at the Shinigami standing in front of them. "Hi Kin." greeted Netto saddly. "I…I was separately from Ichigo and Rukia."

"First off it's Kon, NOT Kin." growled momentarily forgetting about Isshin's presence.

"You know talking to yourself is a very unhealthy habit or," Isshin started smirking and finished, "Or do you still have an imaginary friend?" Still grinning he turned to where Netto was standing.

Netto swore that the older brunette looked him straight in the eyes for a brief second before turning back to Ichigo's body. _"He saw me…but how? Ichigo and Rukia said that it was impossible for humans to see me."_ The look in Isshin's eyes scared Netto and he quickly some distance between himself and the human.

Pointing an accusing finger at the father and shouting, "He sees me. Kon I'm telling you that this guy can see me."

"I don't have any imaginary friends old man!" Kon glared at Ichigo's father and was tempted to raise the club for a second attempt. He quickly moved next to Netto and while using his hand to hide his mouth whispered, "What happened?"

Refusing to turn his stare from Isshin or remove his hand from his Zanpakuto he explained what happened. He included the conversation between himself and Recca-ryu which Kon agreed with. "I should be trying to save them, but I don't know how. Is there anyway that you can think of to sneak in?"

Kon shook his head and noticed the suspicious looks Netto was giving the elder Kurosaki. "The best thing that you can do is lie low for awhile. You'll have Hunters after you by now and they won't stop until they find you."

"How can you expect me to run and hide when our friends lives are on the line?" shouted the frustrated Netto. He knew that he lacked the knowledge to do anything and he blamed his father for that. _"I might need to pay him a little visit later."_

In a growling whisper Kon said, "They will be fine. Right now you need to look after yourself." Before he took another swing at Isshin he said, "Have faith in them and your grandfather."

Despite the enjoyment watching Isshin make a fool of Kon's every attack Netto couldn't stand to be there any longer and decided to go cool off.

* * *

In Hueco Mundo a gathering of Hollows were discussing where to find the tastiest souls. One was even bragging that Shinigami have the best tasting souls and were as addictive as any drug. 

Three exceptionally strong Hollows were thrown on top of the others which nearly started a brawl. "Now gentlemen is that any way to act towards your fellow Hollows?"

"Who are you?" demanded one of the stronger Hollows just before his skull was crush and his throat ripped out.

"The last being that you will ever see." said the visitor. The new Hollow clearly demanded respect and the stronger Hollows were intrigued. "Glad to see that everyone enjoyed the show. Now let's get onto business shall we."

When it was obvious that everyone was giving him their undivided attention he continued. "For those of you who don't know me you may call me Phantom." Immediately another Hollow snickered and he immediately fell over missing his head. Phantom growled holding the bloody mass, "Disrespect me and you life expectancy shrinks exponentially."

Slithering around he studied all assembled. "Well it seems as though I've finally found Hollows of some real merit. I'm sure that all of you are wondering what I'm talking about. To put it bluntly…I'm here to recruit."

"And why should we work for you?" asked one of the moderately strong Hollows.

Phantom's mask seemed to grin as spoke, "I may look like some of you, but I far stronger. Besides wouldn't you all rather enjoy the taste of Shinigami over that of mundane human souls?" Many nodded in agreement and he situated himself in the center of them. "Then follow me and we shall enjoy such delicacies."

Before more could be said Regal showed up and crawled over to Phantom whispering something into his ear. "It appears as though our time has come sooner than I thought. Let us make our preparations."

The gathering of Hollows cheered at the prospect of devouring their immortal enemies. Phantom was pleased with his new followers and soon he would have his revenge on the one who had betrayed him. _"Of course the others will eventually die, but Netto will suffer for the depth of his treachery."

* * *

_

Back in the Soul Society Renji and Tadashi arrived at the same time. "Hey pops where have you been?"

Tadashi glared and countered, "Partrolling and where have you been?"

Renji noticed the blue device hanging around the younger Shinigami's neck. "Now what the hell is that thing?" He started he reach for it when he heard the unmistakable sound of a sword leaving it sheath.

"If you value that hand you will pull it back now." warned Tadashi. The cold look he gave Renji left no doubt of his seriousness.

"I would appreciate it if did not threaten my Lieutenant Hikari." said Byakuya as he entered the room with Toshiro.

Tadashi returned his blade to its protective sheath, but kept his eyes fixed on the retreating hand. Once back at its owner's side Hikari turned to his Captain and groaned. "I know that look and it's never accompanied by good news. Judging by the bored look on Captain Kuchiki's face I'd say that it was my grandson and his friends."

Renji muttered, "How can you tell that? That's how Captain Kuchiki always looks."

"Did you say something Abarai?" asked Byakuya. The piercing stare he gave his Lieutenant shut him up.

"No, nothing sir." responded the red head. Quickly changing the subject he asked, "Well what happened with the human and Rukia?"

Hikari noticed the sneer when Renji said human, but let it go in favor of an answer from his Captain. "It would seem that aside from the perverted human…your grandson and Rukia attempted an escape. Only Netto got away when his, get this, Zanpakuto stole a gigai."

Both Lieutenants' mouths hit the floor. They stood and still couldn't believe that a Zanpakuto pulled something like that.

"Are you sure that you two haven't been hitting the Sake a little too hard? Well I guess that the shrimp wouldn't be served." Tadashi stepped back when Renji said that and the red head found himself frozen from the knees down to the floor.

Byakuya's mouth twitched slightly while Hitsugaya glared daggers at the red head. "Think before you speak fool."

"What else do we know sir?" asked Hikari.

"Your grandson got knocked through an open portal and is somewhere in the human world right now. We recaptured the other two although Kurosaki has been demanding 'The Playboy Channel'." Hitsugaya finished rolling his eyes and muttering something about 'beaten prisoners'.

"Who was beaten?" asked Renji momentarily forgetting about the ice holding him to the floor.

"The human of course. It would seem that Ms. Kuchiki has a thing for the idiot and they are both too stubborn to admit it." Toshiro shattered the ice and as an afterthought added, "Kinda sad really."

"_HOW DARE THAT FILTHY HUMAN STEAL RUKIA'S HEART? IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME THAT SHE LOVED, NOT HIM!"_ Renji grabbed his blade and tried to depart only to be stopped by his Captain. "Sir?"

"We shall see if that is truly the case or simply an infatuation with a dead love." replied the raven haired Captain as he left.

Renji decided that now was a good time to research the Enzan boy since he knew that he wouldn't be allowed near the prisoner anytime soon.

Toshiro gave Hikari a detailed account of Netto's escape and as expected Hikari immediately returned to the human world only this time with his Captain by his side. "He's got potential Hikari and I'd like to see what he can do."

"Is that all sir?" asked the taller Shinigami.

Hitsugaya looked away and said, "Family is the most important thing and I doubt that you want this Phantom getting his hands on Netto."

Tadashi blinked back tears and said, "Thank you sir."

* * *

Back in the human world Netto decided to check in on his friends. He knew that it was risky since the Soul Society would probably have them staked out, but he owed it to them. 

The first place that he visited was the place he dreaded most…SCHOOL! Inside he found many children mourning for someone who he quickly realized was him. Salty tears dripped from his eyes as he saw his friends wearing all black, but what hit him the hardest was seeing Meiru.

She seemed so…robotic. She didn't smile, talk, or even look at anyone. It took all of his willpower not to rush over to her and hold her, to offer all the comfort that he could give her. It shattered his heart when he saw the dead look in those once beautiful eyes. It was if she had lost her very soul.

Determined to set things right he waited patiently for the bell to ring and then followed Meiru to her next class which was Physical Torment 101 also known as P.E. Netto knew that he didn't have a chance of being alone with her, so he made an opening by following Meiru into the girl's locker room.

"_Wow it's so much cleaner than ours. The pink really needs to go though."_ he thought to himself as he averted his eyes from most of the girls present. It really didn't surprise him when he found himself staring at Meiru while she changed. _"Is that a black thong?"_ Blushing madly he turned his head until he felt sure that Meiru had some pants on.

Slowly everyone started to exit to the gym. Netto took this opportunity to grab Meiru's arm and prevent her from leaving. She attempted to jerk away and started to scream when Netto did the only thing that he could do…he placed his lips against hers knowing that while she couldn't see or hear him she could feel his body.

Slowly he pulled back expecting her to have recognized him. Instead she slapped him and started struggling again. She fought him until she lost all of her strength and then collapsed crying.

Netto pulled her off of the floor and into his lap gently stroking her hair. He saw her mouth start to move and leaned in closer to hear what she was saying. "Why did you kill Netto? I loved him."

"She really did lo...like me." he said to himself. He knew that he'd cared for her, but that didn't mean that the feelings were returned. He tried talking to her in vain hopes that she could somehow hear him, but that plan fell through.

A light bulb went off in his head and he opened the palm of her hand. _"Let's hope that this works."_ He began to trace his finger over her palm and hoped that she would understand.

'I am Netto.'

Her eyes widened and she through him off of her before dashing out of the door. Ordinarily she wouldn't have been able to do that, but she had caught the young Shinigami off guard. His emotions had left him open and she had taken that advantage.

Netto chased after her only to find her in hysterics shouting that 'the monster was here'. Even though Netto knew that she didn't believe it was really him it still hurt being called a monster. His eyes widened when the instructor began evacuating the gym and picked up the phone.

"_Oh shit! You've gotta be kidding me."_ he thought as he departed. What struck him as odd was that a Dimensional Area hadn't been setup over the gym. Sci-Labs had sensors precise enough to do so. The only two explanations was that the system was down or being used elsewhere.

* * *

Back in the Soul Society Renji was pouring through records of the living looking for Enzan Ijuin while also searching through the law section for a sneaky way to help the boy get the power to avenge his friend. 

The whole time he kept thinking, _"Evil humans and their infernal machinery. Always have to complicate things and get in the way."_

It didn't occur to him that he was basically following in Rukia's footsteps or else he would've never made that promise to Enzan in the first place.

Finally he located information on Enzan's family and found a minor notation off to the side. Squinting to read the small print he saw a sign that he knew and hated. _"So he's one of them, but he couldn't see me. I wonder why that is."_

Before he could get more the alarms went off and he rushed off to find his Captain. Along the way he heard lower rank Shinigami talking about how 'the escaped prisoner had caused a scene in the human world'. _"That must be the Hikari kid that we were sent after. If he really did cause that big of a scene then it's likely that we'll be dispatched to cleanup and recapture him."_

Once reaching Byakuya he found his prediction to be correct. Kuchiki and Renji were being sent along with a few Trackers and a small clean up crew. _"Oh the joy of babysitting."_ he thought entering the portal to the human world. "Here we go again."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Leave me some feedback and tell me whatcha think. 


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